vex

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (2)  · 
Obvious English borrowings from Latin vexāre ` to harass 'are VEX ` to irritate, to annoy' and its derivatives VEXATIONS and VEXATIOUS.

View all »
Definitions (18)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. transitive verb To annoy, as with petty importunities; bother. See Synonyms at annoy.
  2. transitive verb To cause perplexity in; puzzle.
  3. transitive verb To bring distress or suffering to; plague or afflict.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (5)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples

  • It was the one topic on which her own feelings of propriety, as well as those of the dauphin, coincided with the suggestions of the aunts, and she did not desire to vex or provoke the empress by a prolonged discussion of the question; but the charge of coldness to her own countrymen she denied earnestly. —  The Life of Marie Antoinette
  • For this they have alleged no authority but his mention of “the still-vex'd Bermoothes.” —  Shakespeare His Life Art And Characters
  • Ariel's trip from “the deep nook to fetch dew from the still-vex'd Bermoothes” does indeed show that the Bermudas were in the Poet's mind; but then it also shows that his scene was not there; for it had been no feat at all worth mentioning for Ariel to fetch dew from one part of the Bermudas to another. —  Shakespeare His Life Art And Characters
  • Obvious English borrowings from Latin vexāre ` to harass 'are VEX ` to irritate, to annoy' and its derivatives VEXATIONS and VEXATIOUS. —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol IX No 3
  • 1964 a magazine contest for the shortest ended in a tie at 28 letters: Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud; and slightly more obscure, Blowzy frights vex, and jump quick. —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol II No 4
 

Tags

vex hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

Vex has been looked up 428 times, favorited 3 times, listed 73 times, and commented on twice.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English vexen, from Old French vexer, from Latin vexāre; see wegh- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from French vexer = Spanish Portuguese vexar, from Latin vexare, shake, jolt, hence distress, orig. shake in carrying, freq. of vcherc, carry: see vehicle.
  2. from vex, v.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/vɛks/
by American Heritage

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word several times a year.

Recent Lookups

phloem · fancie · hollered · comprehensive · wash-house

Recent Favorites

supine · doxastic · bissextile day · airship · cloud-shadows

Recent Pronunciations

milosrdenstvi · lichen-covered · futon · sagacity · monoragngocious