vexed
/ˈvɛkst
/adjective
1 [attributive] (Of a problem or issue) difficult and much debated; problematic: the vexed question of how much money the government is going to spend...
- At the heart of this problem lies the vexed question for the judiciary of separating policy issues from legal issues, and this is well illustrated by the impossibility of accepting the orthodox view of judicial independence at face value.
- All these issues meet in the vexed question of governance.
- These legal issues lead into politico-legal questions such as the vexed issue of compliance: there are clearly serious difficulties involved in making states live up to their legal obligations.
Synonyms
disputed, in dispute, contested, in contention, contentious, debated, debatable, open to debate, open to question, questionable, at issue, open to doubt, controversial, moot, unresolved, unsettled, up in the air, undecided, yet to be decided, undetermined, unconcluded, ongoing;
problematic, problematical, taxing, knotty, thorny, ticklish, delicate
informal sticky, dicey, hairy, iffy
British informal dodgy
2Annoyed, frustrated, or worried: I’m very vexed with you!...
- I was actually mad at this new French boss - miffed, annoyed, vexed - about getting promoted.
- He certainly did get more annoyed and vexed than other people seemed to, when things didn't quite go his way.
- With that Cheni sighed in frustration, vexed at having him not be able to understand him.
Synonyms
annoyed, irritated, angry, irate, furious, incensed, inflamed, enraged, infuriated, maddened, fuming, wrathful, choleric, exasperated, piqued, irked, nettled, ill-humoured, hot-tempered, testy, cross, in a bad mood, in a temper, in high dudgeon, huffy, in a huff, put out, fed up, disgruntled, displeased, dissatisfied, frustrated, resentful;
upset, perturbed, fretted, bothered, troubled, worried, agitated, harassed, harried, flustered, distressed
informal aggravated, peeved, miffed, miffy, mad, riled, hacked off, peed off, hot under the collar, foaming at the mouth
British informal browned off, cheesed off, brassed off, not best pleased, narked, eggy
North American informal teed off, ticked off, sore, steamed
West Indian informal vex
vulgar slang pissed off
North American vulgar slang pissed
literary ireful
archaic snuffy, wrath
Derivatives
vexedly
- The author intercedes here, explaining that the history of the famed knight of La Mancha has been vexedly cut off at this point where the two combatants are about to deliver each other a mortal blow.
- It stands, therefore, inert on our shelves or lies vexedly thumbed on our tables, and it will continue so until we learn to use it as it was intended we should.
- The more we learn of Tagore and his work, the more we come to realize that access to his inner nature is vexedly labyrinthine, despite the prolificacy and profundity of his writings.