Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Irritated, distressed, or annoyed.
  • adjective Persistently unresolved or much debated.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Annoyed; harassed; troubled.
  • adjective Much debated or contested; causing discussion.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective annoyed, irritated or distressed
  • adjective much debated, discussed or disputed
  • verb Simple past tense and past participle of vex.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective troubled persistently especially with petty annoyances
  • adjective causing difficulty in finding an answer or solution; much disputed

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Here, too, Gates offers a trenchant observation about what he called the vexed distinction between ‘status’ and ‘behavior.’

    Why Marriage Matters Evan Wolfson 2004

  • Here, too, Gates offers a trenchant observation about what he called the vexed distinction between ‘status’ and ‘behavior.’

    Why Marriage Matters Evan Wolfson 2004

  • Perplexed and vexed is me when people invest obscure meaning into a book when I can't see it myself and I could be in great danger of doing just that with Mr Thundermug so please forgive anything that leans towards pretentious claptrap in this post but this book was two for the price of one for me.

    Mr Thundermug by Cornelius Medvei 2006

  • Perplexed and vexed is me when people invest obscure meaning into a book when I can't see it myself and I could be in great danger of doing just that with Mr Thundermug so please forgive anything that leans towards pretentious claptrap in this post but this book was two for the price of one for me.

    Mr Thundermug by Cornelius Medvei 2006

  • Perplexed and vexed is me when people invest obscure meaning into a book when I can't see it myself and I could be in great danger of doing just that with Mr Thundermug so please forgive anything that leans towards pretentious claptrap in this post but this book was two for the price of one for me.

    54 entries from September 2006 2006

  • Efforts to make drinkable wine in America were vexed from the start.

    Sweet and Intense 2001

  • Efforts to make drinkable wine in America were vexed from the start.

    Sweet and Intense 2001

  • When he was very near I heard him crying, in vexed fashion, "Why in hell don't you sing out?"

    Chapter 1 1904

  • The easy security of tone with which Jeff pronounced the name vexed

    The Landlord at Lion's Head — Complete William Dean Howells 1878

  • The easy security of tone with which Jeff pronounced the name vexed

    The Landlord at Lion's Head — Volume 1 William Dean Howells 1878

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