1. Cause annoyance, especially by persistent minor irritations
   "His constant interruptions bother the entire team";
   - annoy, rag, get to, get at [informal], irritate, rile, nark [Brit, slang], nettle, gravel [US], vex, chafe [archaic], devil, tick off [informal], roil [N. Amer]
    
2. Cause inconvenience or discomfort to
   "Sorry to bother you, but...";
   - trouble, put out, inconvenience, disoblige, discommode [archaic], incommode [archaic]
    
3. Make an effort or take pains to do something
   "Don't bother, please";
   - trouble oneself, trouble, inconvenience oneself
    
4. Make nervous or agitated
   "The mere thought of her bothered him and made his heart beat faster"
    
5. Make confused, perplexed or puzzled
   "The complex instructions bothered the new hires"
    
6. Intrude or enter uninvited
   "Don't bother the professor while she is grading term papers"

1. Something or someone that causes annoyance, inconvenience, or makes life more difficult
   "a bit of a bother";
   - annoyance, botheration [informal], pain, infliction, pain in the neck [informal], nuisance, irritation
    
2. An annoying or troublesome situation, disturbance, or difficulty
   "a spot of bother";
   - fuss, trouble, hassle [informal], shindy [informal], stink [informal]
    
3. Something annoying or fiddly that takes some time to do
   "it was a bit of a bother";
   - faff [Brit, informal], hassle [informal]

1. Exclamation of annoyance
   "bother ...They won't stop me from having what I want"";
   - blast, botheration, bummer [informal], curses, dang [N. Amer, informal], damn, damnation, dammit [informal], damn it [informal], darn [informal], dash [Brit, informal], deuce [informal], durn [US, dialect], drat [informal], hang [informal], sugar [informal], tarnation [N. Amer, informal], shoot [N. Amer, informal]

Derived forms: bothered, bothering, bothers

See also: carry-on [Brit, informal], commotion, disruption, disturbance, flutter, hoo-ha [informal], hoo-hah [informal], hurly burly, kerfuffle [Brit, informal], song and dance [Brit, informal], to-do [informal]

Type of: affect, agitate, bear on, bear upon, charge, charge up, commove [archaic], confuse, disconcert, displease, disturbance, excite, flurry, impact, intrude, irrupt, negative stimulus, perturbation, put off, reach, rouse, strain, strive, turn on

Encyclopedia: Bother