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bother

2 syllables

Quick answer

As a verb, bother means annoy, to disturb, to irritate. As a noun, it means fuss, ado.

Meanings of bother

14 meanings

To annoy, to disturb, to irritate.
“Would it bother you if I smoked?”
To feel care or anxiety; to make or take trouble; to be troublesome.
“Why do I even bother to try?”
To do something which is of negligible inconvenience.
“You didn’t even bother to close the door.”
Take the trouble to do something; concern oneself
“He did not trouble to call his mother on her birthday”
“Don't bother, please”
Similar: trouble oneself, trouble, inconvenience oneself
Cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
“Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me”
“It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves”
Similar: annoy, rag, get to, get at, irritate, rile
To cause inconvenience or discomfort to
“Sorry to trouble you, but …”
Similar: trouble, put out, inconvenience, disoblige, discommode, incommode
Intrude or enter uninvited
“Don't bother the professor while she is grading term papers”
Make nervous or agitated
“The mere thought of her bothered him and made his heart beat faster”
Make confused or perplexed or puzzled

Fuss, ado.
“There was a bit of bother at the hairdresser's when they couldn't find my appointment in the book.”
Trouble, inconvenience.
“Yes, I can do that for you - it's no bother.”
An angry disturbance
“he didn't want to make a fuss”
“they had labor trouble”
“a spot of bother”
Similar: fuss, trouble, hassle
Something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness
“a bit of a bother”
“he's not a friend, he's an infliction”
“washing dishes was a pain in the neck before we got a dish washer”
Similar: annoyance, botheration, pain, infliction, pain in the neck, pain in the ass