bother

• POS: Interjection, Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: both=er
• COUNT in NET: 3 in 3 verses (in OT : 2 in 2 verses) (in NT : 1 in 1 verses)

CIDE DICTIONARY

bother, v. t. [Cf. Ir. buaidhirt trouble, buaidhrim I vex.].

 To annoy; to trouble; to worry; to perplex. See Pother.  [1913 Webster]
" The imperative is sometimes used as an exclamation mildly imprecatory."  [1913 Webster]

bother, v. i. 

 To feel care or anxiety; to make or take trouble; to be troublesome.  [1913 Webster]
"Without bothering about it."  [1913 Webster]

bother, n. 

 One who, or that which, bothers; state of perplexity or annoyance; embarrassment; worry; disturbance; petty trouble; as, to be in a bother.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

bother, v., n., & int.
--v.
1 tr. a give trouble to; worry, disturb. b refl. (often foll. by about) be anxious or concerned.
2 intr. a (often foll. by about, or to + infin.) worry or trouble oneself (don't bother about that; didn't bother to tell me). b (foll. by with) be concerned.
--n.
1 a a person or thing that bothers or causes worry. b a minor nuisance.
2 trouble, worry, fuss.
--int. esp. Brit. expressing annoyance or impatience.

Idiom

cannot be bothered will not make the effort needed.

Etymology

Ir. bodhraim deafen

THESAURUS

bother

abash, abrade, abuse a privilege, addle, addle the wits, ado, afflict, aggravate, aggravation, agitate, agitation, ail, annoy, annoyance, anxiety, awkwardness, bad news, badger, baffle, bafflement, bait, ball up, be at, be the matter, becloud, bedazzle, bedevil, bedevilment, befuddle, befuddlement, beset, besetment, bewilder, bewilderment, bore, botheration, bothersomeness, brawl, bristle, broil, brouhaha, brown off, bug, bullyrag, burden, burdening, burn up, burst, bustle, can of worms, chafe, chaos, charging, chivy, cloud, clumsiness, commotion, complicate matters, concern, confoundment, confuse, confusion, crashing bore, daze, dazzle, demand, devil, devilment, difficulty, dilemma, disaccommodate, disadvantage, discombobulate, discombobulation, discomfit, discomfiture, discomfort, discommode, discommodity, discompose, discomposure, disconcert, disconcertedness, disconcertion, disconcertment, dismay, disoblige, disorder, disorganization, disorganize, disorient, disorientation, disquiet, distemper, distress, disturb, disturbance, dither, dog, dogging, donnybrook, donnybrook fair, downer, drag, dustup, effort, embarrass, embarrassment, embroilment, encroach upon, enigma, entangle, evil, exaction, exasperate, exasperation, exercise, fash, feery-fary, ferment, fidgetiness, fit, fix, flap, flummox, flurry, fluster, flusteration, flustration, flutter, flutteriness, fog, foofaraw, fracas, frazzle, free-for-all, freighting, frenzy, fret, fuddle, fuddlement, fuss, fuss at, fussiness, get, give concern, great ado, gripe, harass, harassment, harry, harrying, hassle, haze, headache, heckle, hector, helter-skelter, hound, hounding, hubbub, hullabaloo, impose on, impose upon, imposing an onus, imposition, incommode, incommodity, inconsiderateness, inconvenience, inconveniency, inconvenientness, infliction, irk, irritant, irritate, irritation, jam, jumble, lather, laying on, load with care, loading, loading down, maelstrom, make free with, matter, maze, melee, mess, miff, mist, mix up, moider, molest, molestation, muddle, muddlement, mystery, nag, needle, nettle, nonplus, nudge, nudzh, nuisance, obtrude upon, obtrusiveness, overstep, pain, peck of troubles, peeve, pell-mell, perplex, perplexity, persecute, persecution, perturb, perturbation, pest, pester, pet, pick on, pickle, pique, plague, plight, pluck the beard, pother, predicament, presume on, presume upon, presumptuousness, problem, provoke, pucker, put out, put to inconvenience, put to it, put to trouble, puzzle, puzzlement, quandary, racket, raise hell, rampage, rattle, restlessness, riddle, ride, rile, riot, roil, rough-and-tumble, roughhouse, row, ruckus, ruction, ruffle, rumpus, scramble, scrape, sea of troubles, shindy, shuffle, spasm, spurt, stew, stir, sweat, swirl, swivet, take a liberty, take liberties, tasking, taxing, tease, throw into confusion, tizzy, to-do, torment, trial, trouble, troublesomeness, try the patience, tumult, turmoil, tweak the nose, twitter, twitteration, unassuredness, unhandiness, unhinge, unquiet, unsettle, unsettlement, unwarranted demand, unwieldiness, uproar, upset, vex, vexation, vexatiousness, vortex, weighting, whirl, worriment, worry

ROGET THESAURUS

bother

Activity

N activity, briskness, liveliness, animation, life, vivacity, spirit, dash, energy, snap, vim, nimbleness, agility, smartness, quickness, velocity, alacrity, promptitude, despatch, dispatch, expedition, haste, punctuality, eagerness, zeal, ardor, perfervidum aingenium, empressement, earnestness, intentness, abandon, vigor, devotion, exertion, industry, assiduity, assiduousness, sedulity, laboriousness, drudgery, painstaking, diligence, perseverance, indefatigation, habits of business, vigilance, wakefulness, sleeplessness, restlessness, insomnia, pervigilium, insomnium, racketing, movement, bustle, stir, fuss, ado, bother, pottering, fidget, fidgetiness, flurry, officiousness, dabbling, meddling, interference, interposition, intermeddling, tampering with, intrigue, press of business, no sinecure, plenty to do, many irons in the fire, great doings, busy hum of men, battle of life, thick of the action, housewife, busy bee, new brooms, sharp fellow, sharp blade, devotee, enthusiast, zealot, meddler, intermeddler, intriguer, busybody, pickthank, hummer, hustler, live man, rustler, active, brisk, brisk as a lark, brisk as a bee, lively, animated, vivacious, alive, alive and kicking, frisky, spirited, stirring, nimble, nimble as a squirrel, agile, light-footed, nimble-footed, featly, tripping, quick, prompt, yare, instant, ready, alert, spry, sharp, smart, fast, quick as a lamplighter, expeditious, awake, broad awake, go-ahead, live wide-awake, forward, eager, strenuous, zealous, enterprising, in earnest, resolute, industrious, assiduous, diligent, sedulous, notable, painstaking, intent, indefatigable, unwearied, unsleeping, never tired, plodding, hard-working, businesslike, workaday, bustling, restless, restless as a hyena, fussy, fidgety, pottering, busy, busy as hen with one chicken, working, at work, on duty, in harness, up in arms, on one's legs, at call, up and doing, up and stirring, busy, occupied, hard at work, hard at it, up to one's ears in, full of business, busy as a bee, busy as a one-armed paperhanger, meddling, meddlesome, pushing, officious, overofficious, intrigant, astir, stirring, agoing, afoot, on foot, in full swing, eventful, on the alert, actively, with life and spirit, with might and main &c, with haste, with wings, full tilt, in mediis rebus, Int, be alive, look alive, look sharp!, move on, push on!, keep moving!, go ahead!, stir your stumps!, age quod agis!, jaldi!, karo!, step lively!, carpe diem, seize the day, nulla dies sine linea, nec mora nec requies, the plot thickens, No sooner said than done, veni vidi vici, catch a weasel asleep, abends wird der Faule fleissig, dictum ac factum, schwere Arbeit in der Jugend ist sanfte Ruhe im Al, hard work in youth means soft rest in age, the busy hum of men.

Difficulty

VB be difficult, run one hard, go against the grain, try one's patience, put one out, put to one's shifts, put to one's wit's end, go hard with one, try one, pose, perplex, bother, nonplus, gravel, bring to a deadlock, be impossible, be in the way of, meet with difficulties, labor under difficulties, get into difficulties, plunge into difficulties, struggle with difficulties, contend with difficulties, grapple with difficulties, labor under a disadvantage, be in difficulty, fish in troubled waters, buffet the waves, swim against the stream, scud under bare poles, Have much ado with, have a hard time of it, come to the push, come to the pinch, bear the brunt, grope in the dark, lose one's way, weave a tangled web, walk among eggs, get into a scrape, bring a hornet's nest about one's ears, be put to one's shifts, flounder, boggle, struggle, not know which way to turn, perdre son Latin, stick at, stick in the mud, stick fast, come to a stand, come to a standstill, come to a deadlock, hold the wolf by the ears, hold the tiger by the tail, render difficult, enmesh, encumber, embarrass, ravel, entangle, put a spoke in the wheel, lead a pretty dance.

Pain

N mental suffering, pain, dolor, suffering, sufferance, ache, smart, passion, displeasure, dissatisfaction, discomfort, discomposure, disquiet, malaise, inquietude, uneasiness, vexation of spirit, taking, discontent, dejection, weariness, anhedonia, annoyance, irritation, worry, infliction, visitation, plague, bore, bother, botheration, stew, vexation, mortification, chagrin, esclandre, mauvais quart d'heur, care, anxiety, solicitude, trouble, trial, ordeal, fiery ordeal, shock, blow, cark, dole, fret, burden, load, concern, grief, sorrow, distress, affliction, woe, bitterness, heartache, carking cares, heavy heart, aching heart, bleeding heart, broken heart, heavy affliction, gnawing grief, unhappiness, infelicity, misery, tribulation, wretchedness, desolation, despair, extremity, prostration, depth of misery, nightmare, ephialtes, incubus, pang, anguish, agony, torture, torment, purgatory, hell upon earth, iron age, reign of terror, slough of despond, peck of troubles, ills that flesh is heir to, miseries of human life, unkindest cut of all, sufferer, victim, prey, martyr, object of compassion, wretch, shorn lamb, in pain, in a state of pain, full of pain, suffering, pained, afflicted, worried, displeased, aching, griped, sore, on the rack, in limbo, between hawk and buzzard, uncomfortable, uneasy, ill at ease, in a taking, in a way, disturbed, discontented, out of humor, weary, heavy laden, stricken, crushed, a prey to, victimized, ill-used, unfortunate, to be pitied, doomed, devoted, accursed, undone, lost, stranded, fey, unhappy, infelicitous, poor, wretched, miserable, woe-begone, cheerless, careworn, concerned, sorry, sorrowing, sorrowful, cut up, chagrined, horrified, horror-stricken, in grief, plunged in grief, a prey to grief, in tears, steeped to the lips in misery, heart-stricken, heart-broken, heart-scalded, broken-hearted, in despair, the iron entered into our soul, haeret lateri lethalis arundo, one's heart bleeding, down, thou climbing sorrow, mirth cannot move a soul in agony, nessun maggior dolere che ricordarsi del tempo fel, sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier th, the Niobe of Nations.

Painfulness

N painfulness, trouble, care, trial, affliction, infliction, blow, stroke, burden, load, curse, bitter pill, bitter draught, waters of bitterness, annoyance, grievance, nuisance, vexation, mortification, sickener, bore, bother, pother, hot water, sea of troubles, hornet's nest, plague, pest, cancer, ulcer, sting, thorn, canker, scorpion, dagger, scourge, carking care, canker worm of care, mishap, misfortune, desagrement, esclandre, rub, source of irritation, source of annoyance, wound, open sore, sore subject, skeleton in the closet, thorn in the flesh, thorn in one's side, where the shoe pinches, gall and wormwood, sorry sight, heavy news, provocation, affront, head and front of one's offending, infestation, molestation, malignity, causing pain, hurting, hurtful, painful, dolorific, dolorous, unpleasant, unpleasing, displeasing, disagreeable, unpalatable, bitter, distasteful, uninviting, unwelcome, undesirable, undesired, obnoxious, unacceptable, unpopular, thankless, unsatisfactory, untoward, unlucky, uncomfortable, distressing, afflicting, afflictive, joyless, cheerless, comfortless, dismal, disheartening, depressing, depressive, dreary, melancholy, grievous, piteous, woeful, rueful, mournful, deplorable, pitiable, lamentable, sad, affecting, touching, pathetic, irritating, provoking, stinging, annoying, aggravating, mortifying, galling, unaccommodating, invidious, vexatious, troublesome, tiresome, irksome, wearisome, plaguing, plaguy, awkward, importunate, teasing, pestering, bothering, harassing, worrying, tormenting, carking, intolerable, insufferable, insupportable, unbearable, unendurable, past bearing, not to be borne, not to be endured, more than flesh and blood can bear, enough to drive one mad, enough to provoke a saint, enough to make a parson swear, enough to gag a maggot, shocking, terrific, grim, appalling, crushing, dreadful, fearful, frightful, thrilling, tremendous, dire, heart-breaking, heart-rending, heart-wounding, heart-corroding, heart-sickening, harrowing, rending, odious, hateful, execrable, repulsive, repellent, abhorrent, horrid, horrible, horrific, horrifying, offensive, nauseous, nauseating, disgusting, sickening, revolting, nasty, loathsome, loathful, fulsome, vile, hideous, sharp, acute, sore, severe, grave, hard, harsh, cruel, biting, caustic, cutting, corroding, consuming, racking, excruciating, searching, grinding, grating, agonizing, envenomed, catheretic, pyrotic, ruinous, disastrous, calamitous, tragical, desolating, withering, burdensome, onerous, oppressive, cumbrous, cumbersome, painfully, with pain, deuced, Int, hinc illae lachrymae!, surgit amari aliquid, the place being too hot to hold one, the iron entering into the soul, he jests at scars that never felt a wound, I must be cruel only to be kind, what deep wounds ever closed without a scar?.

VB cause pain, occasion pain, give pain, bring pain, induce pain, produce pain, create pain, inflict pain, pain, hurt, wound, pinch, prick, gripe, pierce, lancinate, cut, hurt the feelings, wound the feelings, grate upon the feelings, grate upon the nerves, jar upon the feelings, wring the heart, pierce the heart, lacerate the heart, break the heart, rend the heart, make the heart bleed, tear the heart strings, rend the heart strings, draw tears from the eyes, sadden, make unhappy, plunge into sorrow, grieve, fash, afflict, distress, cut up, cut to the heart, displease, annoy, incommode, discompose, trouble, disquiet, faze, feaze, feeze, disturb, cross, perplex, molest, tease, tire, irk, vex, mortify, wherret, worry, plague, bother, pester, bore, pother, harass, harry, badger, heckle, bait, beset, infest, persecute, importune, wring, harrow, torment, torture, bullyrag, put to the rack, put to the question, break on the wheel, rack, scarify, cruciate, crucify, convulse, agonize, barb the dart, plant a dagger in the breast, plant a thorn in one's side, irritate, provoke, sting, nettle, try the patience, pique, fret, rile, tweak the nose, chafe, gall, sting to the quick, wound to the quick, cut to the quick, aggrieve, affront, enchafe, enrage, ruffle, sour the temper, give offense, maltreat, bite, snap at, assail, smite, sicken, disgust, revolt, nauseate, disenchant, repel, offend, shock, stink in the nostrils, go against the stomach, turn the stomach, make one sick, set the teeth on edge, go against the grain, grate on the ear, stick in one's throat, stick in one's gizzard, rankle, gnaw, corrode, horrify, appal, appall, freeze the blood, make the flesh creep, make the hair stand on end, make the blood curdle, make the blood run cold, make one shudder, haunt the memory, weigh on the heart, prey on the heart, weigh on the mind, prey on the mind, weigh on the spirits, prey on the spirits, bring one's gray hairs with sorrow to the grave, add a nail to one's coffin.

Uncertainty

VB be uncertain, wonder whether, lose the clue, lose the clew, scent, miss one's way, not know what to make of, not know which way to turn, not know whether one stands on one s head or one's, float in a sea of doubt, hesitate, flounder, lose oneself, lose one's head, muddle one's brains, render uncertain, put out, pose, puzzle, perplex, embarrass, confuse, confound, bewilder, bother, molder, addle the wits, throw off the scent, ambiguas in vulgus spargere voces, keep in suspense, doubt, hang in the balance, tremble in the balance, depend.