vex
See also: VEX
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English vexen, from Old French vexer, from Latin vexāre (“disturb, agitate, annoy”). Doublet of quake. Displaced native Old English dreċċan and gremman.
Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]vex (third-person singular simple present vexes, present participle vexing, simple past and past participle vexed or (archaic) vext)
- (transitive) To annoy, irritate.
- Synonyms: agitate, irk, irritate; see also Thesaurus:annoy
- Billy's professor was vexed by his continued failure to improve his grades.
- 1980, AA book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 164:
- The first thing that greets you on entering the church is a notice asking you not to vex the goat, since it renders valuable service in keeping the churchyard tidy.
- (transitive) To cause (mental) suffering to; to distress.
- Synonyms: afflict, grame, torment; see also Thesaurus:vex
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 151:
- I will not again vex her ear with words of love, however true, however deep: ours is an evil destiny, and we may not control it!
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XLI, page 64:
- I vex my heart with fancies dim:
He still outstript me in the race;
It was but unity of place
That made me dream I rank’d with him.
- (transitive, now rare) To trouble aggressively, to harass.
- Synonyms: beset, hassle; see also Thesaurus:pester
- 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts xij:[1], folio clxxj, verso:
- In that tyme Herode the kynge layed hondes on certayne of the congregaciõ, to vexe them.
- (transitive, rare) To twist, to weave.
- 1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):
- some English wool, vexed in a Belgian loom
- (intransitive, obsolete) To be irritated; to fret.
- 1613, George Chapman, The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois:
- Wake when thou would'st wake, fear nought, vex for nought
- (transitive) To toss back and forth; to agitate; to disquiet.
- 1725, Homer, “Book IV”, in [Elijah Fenton], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:
- White curl the waves, and the vexed ocean roars.
Quotations
[edit]- For quotations using this term, see Citations:vex.
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]- → Welsh: becso
Translations
[edit]to annoy
|
to distress; to cause mental suffering
|
rare, archaic: to trouble aggressively
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun
[edit]vex (plural vexes)
References
[edit]- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “vex”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Middle English
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Noun
[edit]vex
- Alternative form of wax (“wax”)
Etymology 2
[edit]Verb
[edit]vex
- Alternative form of vexen
Old Norse
[edit]Verb
[edit]vex
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