frustration
/frʌˈstreɪʃn
/noun [mass noun]
1The feeling of being upset or annoyed as a result of being unable to change or achieve something: tears of frustration rolled down her cheeks...
- When he was substituted, the TV cameras even witnessed him kicking out at the dug-out in frustration.
- Some Russian media are speculating that military officers are resigning in frustration.
- One of the little boys kicked in frustration at one of the two perimeter fences that separated him from his father.
Synonyms
exasperation, annoyance, anger, vexation, irritation, bitterness, resentment;
disappointment, discouragement, disheartenment, dispiritedness, depression, dissatisfaction, discontentment, discontent
informal aggravation
1.1 [count noun] An event or circumstance that causes one to feel frustrated: the inherent frustrations of assembly line work...
- Her eyes became pregnant with tears as all of the days frustrations collapsed into a final heap of emotions.
- A Wakefield Council spokeswoman said it shared the frustrations of landowners but it was powerless to act.
- On the other hand, dispatching the form electronically will at least overcome such petty frustrations.
2The prevention of the progress, success, or fulfilment of something: the frustration of their wishes...
- Congenital retardation seems to doom many of the retarded individual's interests to frustration.
- Consequently, I wanted to avoid the frustration of the country's restrictive speed limits.
Synonyms
thwarting, defeat, foiling, blocking, stopping, countering, spoiling, checking, baulking, circumvention, forestalling, dashing, scotching, quashing, crushing;
disappointment, derailment, baffling, snookering;
obstruction, hampering, hindering, stifling, crippling;
failure, collapse, foundering, lack of success, non-success
British informal scuppering
Origin
Mid 16th century: from Latin frustratio(n-), from frustrare 'disappoint' (see frustrate).