frustrate

views updated

frus·trate / ˈfrəsˌtrāt/ • v. [tr.] prevent (a plan or attempted action) from progressing, succeeding, or being fulfilled: his attempt to frustrate the merger. ∎  prevent (someone) from doing or achieving something: an increasingly popular way to frustrate car thieves. ∎  cause (someone) to feel upset or annoyed, typically as a result of being unable to change or achieve something: [as adj.] (frustrating) it can be very frustrating to find that the size you want isn't there. • adj. archaic frustrated.DERIVATIVES: frus·trat·er n.frus·trat·ing·ly adv. progress turned out to be frustratingly slow.

More From encyclopedia.com