Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Causing strain, hardship, or distress.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of a kind to test severely or thoroughly; difficult; severe: as, a trying ordeal; trying circumstances; a color trying to one's complexion.
Wiktionary
- v. present participle of try.
- adj. Difficult to endure; arduous
- adj. irritating, stressful or bothersome
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Adapted to try, or put to severe trial; severe; afflictive.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. extremely irritating to the nerves
- adj. hard to endure
Examples
“It ends up like that General in New Orleans, trying *trying* to get important information out about disaster preparedness, having to face reflexively antagonistic journalists and famously pronouncing, "You're stuck on stupid.”
“They seem trying to speak, trying to speak kindly.”
“See here, Nimbus, if you'll do this I will promise that you and your family never shall be separated, and I'll give you fifty dollars now and a hundred dollars when you come back, if you'll just keep those other fool-niggers from trying -- mind 'I say _trying_ -- to run away and so getting shot.”
“Behold him sitting on the side of the bed, trying to dress himself -- _trying_ to do it.”
“And he knew not, apparently, how to express the hero's greatness _in word_, but by making him bethump the stage with tempestuous verbiage; which, to be sure, is not the style of greatness at all, but only of one trying to be great, and _trying_ to be so, because he is not so.”
“I'm trying to think of the most unacceptable kind of tattoo but this is basically like trying to choose who is the worst dictator in history.”
“Davy, hurrying home along the country road one cold winter afternoon, his mind intent on finishing his chores before dark, looked back after passing Old Man Thornycroft's house to find Buck trying to follow him -- _trying_ to, because the old man, who hated to see anybody or anything but himself have his way, had chained a heavy block to him to keep him from doing what nature had intended him to do -- roam the woods and poke his long nose in every briar patch after rabbits.”
“Mr. Bing spent the first two years of his term trying to restructure the city's finances to reflect its dwindling population, which fell 25% in the past 10 years, according to Census data.”
“The idea of a middle-aged widower with one prior heart attack to his name trying a risky, physically demanding run of more than 2,100 miles sounded like a perfect storyline for a movie to filmmaker Tim Van Steeg.”
“Damnation is just another title trying to replicate the images of the 'Old West '.”
Lists
‘trying’ hasn't been added to any lists yet.
madmouth "It's very trying to have a drunken husband, you see; and it must be very trying to have twins three times in succession, don't you think?" (-Anne of Green Gables) Jun 8, 2009
whichbe A contranym: both negative ("hard to endure") and positive ("making an effort"). May 14, 2008