| / English Dictionary |
BOTHER
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected form: bother
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness
Example:
he's not a friend, he's an infliction
Synonyms:
annoyance; bother; botheration; infliction; pain; pain in the ass; pain in the neck
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("bother" is a kind of...):
negative stimulus (a stimulus with undesirable consequences)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bother"):
nuisance ((law) a broad legal concept including anything that disturbs the reasonable use of your property or endangers life and health or is offensive)
irritant; thorn (something that causes irritation and annoyance)
plague (an annoyance)
Derivation:
bother (cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An angry disturbance
Example:
a spot of bother
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("bother" is a kind of...):
disturbance; perturbation (activity that is a malfunction, intrusion, or interruption)
Derivation:
bother (to cause inconvenience or discomfort to)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they bother ... he / she / it bothers
Past simple: bothered
Past participle: bothered
-ing form: bothering
Sense 1
Meaning:
Cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
Example:
It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves
Synonyms:
annoy; bother; chafe; devil; get at; get to; gravel; irritate; nark; nettle; rag; rile; vex
Classified under:
Hypernyms (to "bother" is one way to...):
displease (give displeasure to)
Verb group:
chafe (feel extreme irritation or anger)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bother"):
get; get under one's skin (irritate)
eat into; fret; grate; rankle (gnaw into; make resentful or angry)
peeve (cause to be annoyed, irritated, or resentful)
ruffle (trouble or vex)
fret (cause annoyance in)
beset; chevvy; chevy; chivvy; chivy; harass; harry; hassle; molest; plague; provoke (annoy continually or chronically)
antagonise; antagonize (provoke the hostility of)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Derivation:
bother; botheration (something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness)
botheration (the psychological state of being irritated or annoyed)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Make confused or perplexed or puzzled
Classified under:
Verbs of feeling
Hypernyms (to "bother" is one way to...):
confuse; disconcert; flurry; put off (cause to feel embarrassment)
Verb group:
bother (make nervous or agitated)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sentence example:
The bad news will bother him
Sense 3
Meaning:
Make nervous or agitated
Example:
The mere thought of her bothered him and made his heart beat faster
Classified under:
Verbs of feeling
Hypernyms (to "bother" is one way to...):
agitate; charge; charge up; commove; excite; rouse; turn on (cause to be agitated, excited, or roused)
Verb group:
bother (make confused or perplexed or puzzled)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sentence examples:
The bad news will bother him
The performance is likely to bother Sue
Derivation:
botheration (something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness)
botheration (the psychological state of being irritated or annoyed)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Intrude or enter uninvited
Example:
Don't bother the professor while she is grading term papers
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "bother" is one way to...):
intrude; irrupt (enter uninvited)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Sense 5
Meaning:
Take the trouble to do something; concern oneself
Example:
Don't bother, please
Synonyms:
bother; inconvenience oneself; trouble; trouble oneself
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "bother" is one way to...):
reach; strain; strive (to exert much effort or energy)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
Sense 6
Meaning:
To cause inconvenience or discomfort to
Example:
Sorry to trouble you, but...
Synonyms:
bother; discommode; disoblige; incommode; inconvenience; put out; trouble
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "bother" is one way to...):
affect; bear on; bear upon; impact; touch; touch on (have an effect upon)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bother"):
distress; straiten (bring into difficulties or distress, especially financial hardship)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Derivation:
bother (an angry disturbance)
botheration (something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness)
botheration (the psychological state of being irritated or annoyed)
Context examples:
By Jove, no more do I. It is not my way to bother my brains with what does not concern me.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
A question about whether an individual is or was bothered by a change in their eating habits.
(Bothered By a Change in Eating Habits, NCI Thesaurus)
A response indicating that an individual is or was bothered just a little.
(Bothered a Little, NCI Thesaurus)
A question about whether an individual is or was bothered by the look of their hands or nails.
(Bothered by Look of Hands or Nails, NCI Thesaurus)
A question about whether an individual is or was bothered by neck or shoulder pain or discomfort.
(Bothered by Neck or Shoulder Pain or Discomfort, NCI Thesaurus)
A response indicating that an individual is or was extremely bothered, to the point where they could not take care of things.
(Extremely Bothered, NCI Thesaurus)
A self-administered questionnaire designed to evaluate patient function and bother after prostate cancer treatment.
(Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite, NCI Thesaurus)
A response indicating that an individual is or was very bothered.
(Bothered Very Much, NCI Thesaurus)
Functional Assessment of Multiple Sclerosis (FAMS) Additional Concerns: I am bothered by the chills.
(FAMS - Bothered by Chills, NCI Thesaurus)
A response indicating that an individual is or was not bothered at all.
(Not Bothered at All, NCI Thesaurus)
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