Meanings
comparative more vexed · superlative most vexed
- annoyed, irritated or distressed
She became more and more vexed as she struggled to cope with the demands of the job.
1 more example
He would be left in no doubt that they were annoyed. He might even go so far as to deduce that they were quite vexed.
1990, Terry Pratchett, Eric, page 72 - much debated, discussed or disputed
I leave aside the vexed questions about whether one or two peploi were woven and presented to Athena during the Greater (every four years) and Lesser (every year) Panathenaic festivals […]
2004, Mary Stieber, The Poetics of Appearance in the Attic Korai1 more example
The question, however, as to whether rinderpest bile is capable of producing the disease in a herd innoculated with it is a very vexed one, and round this point heated controversies have been waged in other places than in Natal.
1901 December 6, H. Watkins-Pitchford, “Rinderpest”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 20, page 610
- participlepastsimple past and past participle of vex
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivetroubled persistently especially with petty annoyances
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinvexō
- Old Frenchvexer
- Middle Englishvexen
- Middle Englishvexed
- Englishvexed
From Middle English vexed, vexede, vexit, vixid, equivalent to vex + -ed.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic زَعْلَان
- زَعْلَان (zaʕlān)annoyed, irritated or distressed
Bulgarian сърдит, ядосан
- сърдит (sărdit)annoyed, irritated or distressed
- ядосан (jadosan)annoyed, irritated or distressed
- спорен (sporen)much debated, discussed or disputed
Czech otrávený, rozmrzelý
- otrávenýannoyed, irritated or distressed
- rozmrzelýannoyed, irritated or distressed
- zapeklitýmuch debated, discussed or disputed
- ožehavýmuch debated, discussed or disputed
- ošemetnýmuch debated, discussed or disputed
Finnish ärsyyntynyt, ärtynyt
- ärsyyntynytannoyed, irritated or distressed
- ärtynytannoyed, irritated or distressed
- kiistanalainenmuch debated, discussed or disputed
French contrarié, ennuyé
- contrariéannoyed, irritated or distressed
- ennuyéannoyed, irritated or distressed
- fâchéannoyed, irritated or distressed
- épineuxmuch debated, discussed or disputed
- controversémuch debated, discussed or disputed
German umstritten
- umstrittenmuch debated, discussed or disputed
Hindi तंग
- तंग (taṅg)annoyed, irritated or distressed
Spanish molesto, irritado
- molestoannoyed, irritated or distressed
- irritadoannoyed, irritated or distressed
- discutidomuch debated, discussed or disputed
- debatidomuch debated, discussed or disputed
Thai หงุดหงิด
- หงุดหงิด (ngùt-ngìt)annoyed, irritated or distressed
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with vexed
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
vexed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vexed
“vexed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vexed. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vexed,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vexed.
Source: vexed on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.