BOTHER (bother)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: bother   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bother mean? 

• BOTHER (noun)
  The noun BOTHER has 2 senses:

1. an angry disturbance

2. something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness

  Familiarity information: BOTHER used as a noun is rare.

• BOTHER (verb)
  The verb BOTHER has 6 senses:

1. take the trouble to do something; concern oneself

2. cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

3. to cause inconvenience or discomfort to

4. intrude or enter uninvited

5. make nervous or agitated

6. make confused or perplexed or puzzled

  Familiarity information: BOTHER used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BOTHER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An angry disturbance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

bother; fuss; hassle; trouble

Context example:

a spot of bother

Hypernyms ("bother" is a kind of...):

disturbance; perturbation (activity that is a malfunction, intrusion, or interruption)

Derivation:

bother (to cause inconvenience or discomfort to)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

annoyance; bother; botheration; infliction; pain; pain in the ass; pain in the neck

Context example:

he's not a friend, he's an infliction

Hypernyms ("bother" is a kind of...):

negative stimulus (a stimulus with undesirable consequences)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bother"):

nuisance ((law) a broad legal concept including anything that disturbs the reasonable use of your property or endangers life and health or is offensive)

irritant; thorn (something that causes irritation and annoyance)

plague (an annoyance)

Derivation:

bother (cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations)

• BOTHER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bother    ... he / she / it bothers   
Past simple: bothered   
Past participle: bothered   
-ing form: bothering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Take the trouble to do something; concern oneself

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

bother; inconvenience oneself; trouble; trouble oneself

Context example:

Don't bother, please

Hypernyms (to "bother" is one way to...):

reach; strain; strive (to exert much effort or energy)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

annoy; bother; chafe; devil; get at; get to; gravel; irritate; nark; nettle; rag; rile; vex

Context example:

It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves

Hypernyms (to "bother" is one way to...):

displease (give displeasure to)

Verb group:

chafe (feel extreme irritation or anger)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bother"):

get; get under one's skin (irritate)

eat into; fret; grate; rankle (gnaw into; make resentful or angry)

peeve (cause to be annoyed, irritated, or resentful)

ruffle (trouble or vex)

fret (cause annoyance in)

beset; chevvy; chevy; chivvy; chivy; harass; harry; hassle; molest; plague; provoke (annoy continually or chronically)

antagonise; antagonize (provoke the hostility of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

bother; botheration (something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness)

botheration (the psychological state of being irritated or annoyed)

Sense 3

Meaning:

To cause inconvenience or discomfort to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

bother; discommode; disoblige; incommode; inconvenience; put out; trouble

Context example:

Sorry to trouble you, but...

Hypernyms (to "bother" is one way to...):

affect; bear on; bear upon; impact; touch; touch on (have an effect upon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bother"):

distress; straiten (bring into difficulties or distress, especially financial hardship)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

bother (an angry disturbance)

botheration (something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness)

botheration (the psychological state of being irritated or annoyed)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Intrude or enter uninvited

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

Don't bother the professor while she is grading term papers

Hypernyms (to "bother" is one way to...):

intrude; irrupt (enter uninvited)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make nervous or agitated

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

The mere thought of her bothered him and made his heart beat faster

Hypernyms (to "bother" is one way to...):

agitate; charge; charge up; commove; excite; rouse; turn on (cause to be agitated, excited, or roused)

Verb group:

bother (make confused or perplexed or puzzled)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will bother him
The performance is likely to bother Sue

Derivation:

botheration (something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness)

botheration (the psychological state of being irritated or annoyed)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Make confused or perplexed or puzzled

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "bother" is one way to...):

confuse; disconcert; flurry; put off (cause to feel embarrassment)

Verb group:

bother (make nervous or agitated)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The bad news will bother him

 Context examples 

A question about whether an individual is or was bothered by the drop in their contribution to the family.

(Bothered by Drop in Contribution to the Family, NCI Thesaurus)

A question about whether an individual is or was bothered by difficulty with self-care activities because of their neck or shoulder.

(Bothered by Difficulty with Self-Care Activities Because of Neck or Shoulder, NCI Thesaurus)

A question about whether an individual is or has been bothered by constipation.

(Bothered by Constipation, NCI Thesaurus)

A question about whether an individual is or was bothered by changes in the taste of food.

(Bothered by Food Taste Change, NCI Thesaurus)

A question about whether an individual is or was bothered by gas or flatulence.

(Bothered by Gas or Flatulence, NCI Thesaurus)

A question about whether an individual is or has been bothered by their jaundice or yellow skin color.

(Bothered by Jaundice or Yellow Skin Color, NCI Thesaurus)

A question about whether an individual is or was bothered by hair loss.

(Bothered by Hair Loss, NCI Thesaurus)

A question about whether an individual is or has been bothered by a change in weight.

(Bothered by Change in Weight, NCI Thesaurus)

A question about whether an individual is or was bothered by the change in their personality.

(Bothered by Change in Personality, NCI Thesaurus)

"No decent reporter needs to bother with notes."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)