Synonyms of galling

galling 1 of 2

adjective

ˈgȯ-liŋ 

1

as in frustrating

causing annoyance

her holier-than-thou attitude is galling

Synonyms & Similar Words

• frustrating
• annoying
• irritating
• disturbing
• aggravating
• maddening
• exasperating
• irksome
• vexing
• painful
• bothersome
• abrasive
• vexatious
• pestiferous
• nettlesome
• pesky
• rankling
• pestilential
• chafing
• nettling
• rebarbative
• infuriating
• carking
• peeving
• troubling
• plaguey
• riling
• distractive
• pesty
• biting
• pestilent
• distressing
• disquieting
• burdensome
• discomforting
• troublesome
• importunate
• displeasing
• upsetting
• stressful
• offensive
• tiresome
• enraging
• mischievous
• worrisome
• angering
• trying
• importune
• inconveniencing
• jarring
• grating
• brattish
• thorny
• spiny
• bratty
• jangling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• delightful
• pleasing

2

as in painful

hard to accept or bear especially emotionally

losing in the last round of play-offs was galling to our home team

Synonyms & Similar Words

• painful
• harsh
• cruel
• torturous
• bitter
• agonizing
• terrible
• excruciating
• horrible
• hurtful
• severe
• grievous
• harrowing
• unacceptable
• awful
• afflicting
• unbearable
• tormenting
• heartrending
• dreadful
• intolerable
• appalling
• insufferable
• insupportable
• bad
• unendurable
• vile
• miserable
• dire
• extreme
• ghastly
• intense
• acute
• wretched
• rotten
• nasty
• unsupportable
• piercing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• gratifying
• pleasing
• sweet
• tolerable
• bearable
• endurable
• sustainable
• supportable
• acceptable
• reasonable
• allowable
• survivable
• livable
• sufferable

galling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of gall

1

as in eroding

to damage or diminish by continued friction

move that rope so the sharp edge of the hull doesn't gall it

Synonyms & Similar Words

• eroding
• wearing
• fraying
• rubbing
• chafing
• reducing
• fretting
• biting
• abrading
• shaving
• scraping
• rasping
• corrading
• filing
• erasing
• sharpening
• gnawing
• eating
• frazzling
• scouring
• grating
• corroding
• chewing
• scuffing
• grazing
• grinding
• nibbling
• sandblasting
• disintegrating
• sandpapering
• wearing out
• decomposing
• wiping (away)
• dissolving
• honing
• whetting
• rubbing out
• breaking down
• breaking up

2

as in annoying

to disturb the peace of mind of (someone) especially by repeated disagreeable acts

humming through your nose like that absolutely galls me

Synonyms & Similar Words

• annoying
• irritating
• bothering
• bugging
• persecuting
• aggravating
• exasperating
• getting
• infuriating
• vexing
• worrying
• griping
• chafing
• nettling
• grating
• angering
• irking
• eating
• itching
• riling
• spiting
• ruffling
• burning (up)
• insulting
• narking
• peeving
• teasing
• rasping
• getting to
• plaguing
• provoking
• piquing
• frosting
• putting out
• wearing on
• hacking (off)
• enraging
• upsetting
• offending
• nagging
• harassing
• sticking in one's craw
• maddening
• distressing
• getting one's goat
• heckling
• unsettling
• hassling
• rankling
• getting on one's nerves
• rubbing the wrong way
• badgering
• setting one's teeth on edge
• rousing
• inflaming
• disquieting
• discomforting
• pestering
• harrying
• agitating
• antagonizing
• perturbing
• baiting
• incensing
• outraging
• fretting
• affronting
• undoing
• roiling
• unhinging
• exercising
• deviling
• bullyragging
• hagriding
• discomposing
• freaking (out)
• miffing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• obliging
• gratifying
• appeasing
• placating
• pleasing
• satisfying
• conciliating
• pacifying
• delighting
• mollifying
• reassuring
• comforting
• assuring
• propitiating
• consoling
• cheering
• soothing
• contenting
• quieting
• gladdening
• solacing

3

as in irritating

to make sore by continued rubbing

tie your shoes so they don't gall your heels sliding on and off like that

Synonyms & Similar Words

• irritating
• scratching
• scraping
• chafing
• fretting
• excoriating
• abrading
• peeling
• grazing
• burning
• skinning
• inflaming
• flaying

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of galling

Adjective

Also in Scorsese’s film, Cady’s crimes are so galling that Sam, Cady’s defense lawyer, breaks his own oath to his client and hides evidence that might have helped get Cady off (a change from MacDonald’s novel). — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 26 June 2026

Holdbacks, lawyer fees and smaller checks What is especially galling, some victims said, is that their compensation for years of fighting for justice will boil down to a day’s pay for a Purdue attorney like Huebner, who charges $2,935 an hour. — Craig R. McCoy, CNN Money, 24 Apr. 2026

Verb

There’s no getting around paying taxes, but there’s something galling about paying for the privilege. — Brian Sloan,dan Avery, CNBC, 24 Mar. 2026

Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri found the trauma plot especially galling in FNAF2, since that’s what every horror movie is about nowadays. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2025