vex

See also: VEX

English

WOTD – 13 July 2006

Etymology

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

• enPR: vĕks, IPA^(key): /vɛks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛks

Verb

vex (third-person singular simple present vexes, present participle vexing, simple past and past participle vexed or (archaic) vext)

2. (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.

4. (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], “Canto XLI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, 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.

5. (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.

6. (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

7. (intransitive, obsolete) To be irritated; to fret.

   Synonyms: chafe, fume

   • 1613, George Chapman, The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois:

     Wake when thou would'st wake, fear nought, vex for nought

8. (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

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:vex.

Derived terms

• vexation
• vexatious
• vexed
• vexer
• vexingly

Related terms

• quake
• vexatious

Descendants

• → Welsh: becso

Translations

to annoy

• Bulgarian: ядосвам (bg) (jadosvam)
• Cornish: veksya
• Czech: otravovat (cs)
• Dutch: ergeren (nl)
• Finnish: ärsyttää (fi)
• French: ennuyer (fr), énerver (fr)
• Georgian: გაღიზიანება (gaɣizianeba)
• German: ärgern (de), verärgern (de), reizen (de), irritieren (de)
• Hindi: परेशान करना (pareśān karnā), दिमाग खाना (dimāg khānā, literally “to eat [someone's] brain”), दिमाग चाटना (dimāg cāṭnā, literally “to lick [someone's] brain”)
• Hungarian: piszkál (hu), vegzál (hu)
• Ido: iracigar (io)
• Italian: vessare (it), innervosire
• Latin: vexō, piget, taedet
• Maori: hawene
• Old English: dreċċan, gremman
• Persian: آزردن (fa) (âzordan)
• Polish: denerwować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: vexar (pt), irritar (pt), aborrecer (pt)
• Russian: раздража́ть (ru) (razdražátʹ), досажда́ть (ru) (dosaždátʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: sàraich
• Spanish: molestar (es), irritar (es), vejar (es)
• Swedish: irritera (sv), förarga (sv)
• Turkish: kızdırmak (tr)

to distress; to cause mental suffering

• Czech: trápit (cs)
• Dutch: kwellen (nl)
• Esperanto: ĉagreni (eo)
• Finnish: kiusata (fi), vaivata (fi)
• French: vexer (fr) informal, tourmenter (fr)
• Georgian: აღელვება (aɣelveba)
• German: beunruhigen (de), quälen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀνιάω (aniáō)

• Hindi: खून पीना (khūn pīnā, literally “to drink [someone's] blood”)
• Irish: buair
• Italian: tormentare (it), vessare (it), infastidire (it)
• Persian: رنجاندن (fa) (ranjândan)
• Polish: gnębić (pl) impf, niepokoić (pl) impf
• Portuguese: tormentar, vexar (pt)
• Quechua: ch'iqmichiy
• Romanian: vexa (ro) f
• Russian: волнова́ть (ru) (volnovátʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: sàraich
• Spanish: disgustar (es), afligir (es), atormentar (es), vejar (es)
• Turkish: rahatsız etmek (tr)

rare, archaic: to trouble aggressively

• Bulgarian: дразня (bg) (draznja)
• French: vexer (fr)
• Spanish: fastidiar (es), vejar (es)

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

• German: ^{(please verify)} beleidigen (de)

Noun

vex (plural vexes)

1. (Scotland, obsolete) A trouble.

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “vex”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

vex

1. Alternative form of wax (“wax”)

Etymology 2

Verb

vex

1. Alternative form of vexen

Old Norse

Verb

vex

1. first/second/third-person singular present active indicative of vaxa