frustrate

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English frustraten (“to prevent, disappoint, render useless”), from Latin frūstrātus, perfect passive participle of frūstrō (“I deceive”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare French frustrer.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /fɹʌˈstɹeɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹʌsˌtɹeɪt/
• Rhymes: (UK) -eɪt

Verb

frustrate (third-person singular simple present frustrates, present participle frustrating, simple past and past participle frustrated)

1. (transitive) To disappoint or defeat; to vex by depriving of something expected or desired.

   It frustrates me to do all this work and then lose it all.

2. (transitive) To hinder or thwart.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:hinder

   My clumsy fingers frustrate my typing efforts.

   • 2019 October 9, Farhad Manjoo, “Dealing With China Isn’t Worth the Moral Cost”, in New York Times:

     With its far larger population, China’s economy will inevitably come to eclipse ours, but that is hardly a mortal threat. In climate change, the world faces a huge collective-action problem that will require global cooperation. According to this view, treating China like an adversary will only frustrate our own long-term goals.

3. (transitive) To cause stress or annoyance.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:annoy

   This test frustrates me because if I fail, it'll destroy my grade.

Translations

to disappoint or defeat

• Belarusian: расчароўваць impf (rasčaróŭvacʹ)
• Bulgarian: разочаровам (bg) (razočarovam)
• Catalan: frustrar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: frustreren (nl)
• Esperanto: frustri
• Finnish: turhauttaa (fi), lannistaa (fi)
• French: frustrer (fr)
• German: frustrieren (de)
• Greek: ματαιώνω (el) (mataióno)
• Hebrew: תִּסְכֵּל (he)
• Maori: whakahēmanawa
• Polish: frustrować (pl) impf, sfrustrować
• Portuguese: frustrar (pt)
• Russian: разочаровывать (ru) impf (razočarovyvatʹ), обламывать (ru) impf (oblamyvatʹ) (slang), расстраивать (ru) impf (rasstraivatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: frustrírati (sh)
• Spanish: frustrar (es)

to hinder

• Arabic: فَشَّلَ (faššala)
• Bulgarian: осуетявам (bg) (osuetjavam), възпрепятствам (bg) (vǎzprepjatstvam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: frustreren (nl)
• Finnish: tehdä tyhjäksi, estää (fi), vaikeuttaa (fi), haitata (fi), olla tiellä, hidastaa (fi)
• Greek: ματαιώνω (el) (mataióno)
• Maori: whakakōpekapeka, whakapōnānā, whakataunahua
• Polish: krzyżować plany impf, pokrzyżować plany (pl) pf
• Russian: мешать (ru) impf (mešatʹ), препятствовать (ru) impf (prepjatstvovatʹ)

Etymology 2

From Middle English frustrat (“prevented, disappointed, rendered useless”, adjective as well as past participle of frustraten (see Etymology 1)), from Latin frūstrātus, perfect passive participle of frūstrō (“to deceive”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Adjective

frustrate (comparative more frustrate, superlative most frustrate)

1. ineffectual; useless; fruitless.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     Our frustrate search.

   • 1874, James Thomson, The City of Dreadful Night, volume XVI:

     In all eternity I had one chance
     One few years' term of gracious human life
     […]
     And this sole chance was frustrate from my birth
     A mockery, a delusion; […]

Translations

vain, useless

• Bulgarian: тщетен (tšteten)
• Finnish: turha (fi), hyödytön (fi), hedelmätön (fi)
• Russian: тщетный (ru) (tščetnyj)

Italian

Etymology 1

Adjective

frustrate

1. feminine plural of frustrato

Participle

frustrate f pl

1. feminine plural of frustrato

Etymology 2

Noun

frustrate f

1. plural of frustrata

Etymology 3

Verb

frustrate

1. inflection of frustrare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Anagrams

• sfruttare, sfrutterà

Latin

Verb

frūstrāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of frūstrō

Spanish

Verb

frustrate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of frustrar combined with te