frustrate

IPA/frʌˈstreɪt/
KK[frˈʌstrˌet]IPA/ˈfrʌstreɪt/

frustrate — verb

  • frustratepresent simple I / you / we / they
  • frustrateshe / she / it
  • frustratedpast simple
  • frustrating-ing form

1. if a situation, person, or thing frustrates you, it leaves you upset and out of

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

if a situation, person, or thing frustrates you, it leaves you upset and out of patience because your efforts keep failing.

Example

The slow internet at the library frustrated Sofia while she was writing her essay.

transitive: thing frustrates a person

It frustrates Leo that his younger brother never listens to advice.

pattern: it frustrates [person] that + clause

Common collocations
  • deeply frustrated
  • increasingly frustrated
  • frustrated by
  • frustrated with
Synonyms
  • annoy

    lighter; short-term irritation, no sense of giving up

  • exasperate

    stronger, more formal; emphasises losing patience completely

  • discourage

    focus on losing hope rather than feeling annoyed

Antonyms
  • encourage

    give someone hope and confidence to keep trying

  • satisfy

    make someone feel content with the result

Grammar Patterns

frustrate + somebody

Usage Note

Frequently passive — 'be frustrated by/with' is more common in everyday speech than the active form. The subject of the active form is usually a situation or thing, not a person acting on purpose.

Common Mistakes

I frustrated when the bus did not come.
I was frustrated when the bus did not come.
the person who feels the emotion is the object, so use the passive (be frustrated).

2. to stop a plan, effort, or attempt from working out, so that the goal behind it

2.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to stop a plan, effort, or attempt from working out, so that the goal behind it cannot be reached.

Example

Heavy snow frustrated the rescue team's attempt to reach the climbers on the mountain.

object: attempt / plan / effort

New safety rules frustrated Christopher's plan to open a food stall at the festival.

Common collocations
  • frustrate a plan
  • frustrate an attempt
  • frustrate efforts
  • frustrate hopes
Synonyms
  • thwart

    very close synonym; often interchangeable in formal writing

  • obstruct

    stresses physically or actively blocking, not just stopping success

  • hinder

    weaker; slow down rather than fully stop

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

frustrate + plan/effort/attempt

Usage Note

Object is almost always something the subject does not want to succeed — plans, efforts, hopes, ambitions, attempts. Distinguish from sense 1 by checking the object: a person object usually signals sense 1; a plan/effort object signals this sense.

Common Mistakes

The rain frustrated us to go hiking.
The rain frustrated our plan to go hiking.
this sense takes a plan or effort as the object, not a person + to-infinitive.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four describe negative reactions to a situation, but the cause and the strength of feeling differ. 'Annoy' is the lightest — a short, surface-level irritation that usually fades quickly: noisy neighbours annoy you for an evening. 'Frustrate' is stronger and involves blocked effort: you have been trying to reach a goal and cannot, so you feel both angry and helpless. 'Exasperate' adds a sense of having reached the very end of one's patience after repeated trouble; it has a more formal, almost dramatic flavour, often used about people's behaviour. 'Discourage' shifts the focus from anger to loss of hope: a frustrated learner is annoyed at obstacles; a discouraged learner is ready to give up. Example contrast: a queue-jumper annoys you, a broken printer before a deadline frustrates you, and a child who keeps interrupting exasperates a tired teacher.

frustrate ↗annoy ↗exasperate ↗discourage ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • be frustrated by
  • be frustrated with
  • frustrate the efforts of
  • frustrate someone's plans

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

From Latin 'frustratus', the past participle of 'frustrari' meaning 'to deceive or disappoint', built on 'frustra' meaning 'in vain'. The word entered English in the fifteenth century, first describing actions that came to nothing, and later widening to the modern emotional sense of someone feeling stuck or upset when their efforts fail.

First known use

15th century

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a Adjective