trying
/ˈtɹaɪ.ɪŋ/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/ˈtɹɑjɪŋ/
trying adjective: difficult to endure; arduous. Also the present participle and gerund of try.
Adjective
trying (comparative more trying, superlative most trying)
- Difficult to endure; arduous.
- "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a little trying to do so much typewriting?"1891 [September], A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Adventure III.—A Case of Identity.”, in Geo[rge] Newnes, editor, The Strand Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, volume II (July...
- Troutbeck is a tiny village midway between Penrith and Keswick in a very sparsely populated part of Cumberland, and it used to be said by facetious travellers that the reason why it ever had a station at all was to give the engine a rest after it had struggled up the long and trying incline from...1951 October, “Notes and News: The Harmonium at Troutbeck”, in Railway Magazine, page 709
- Irritating, stressful or bothersome.
Noun
trying (plural tryings)
- The act by which one tries something; an attempt.
- In a variety of places, O'Shaughnessy argues that there is an internal relation between trying and the events that tryings produce. For example, he argues that tryings are not independently specifiable except as would-be causes of physical events.2006, Andrew Sneddon, Action and Responsibility, page 145
- When I write with others, the pauses and manyfold attempts to get at an idea mirror the cadence of a conversation or the tryings of finding a word that evades the tongue. That searching is such a beautiful thing.2021, William Guss, gilwus
Also used as
trying is also the present participle and gerund of try.
trying meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Telugu
trying in Hindi
- Difficult to endure; arduous
- प्रयासरत prayāsrat
trying in Marathi
- प्रयत्न करत आहे, प्रयत्न करीत आहे
trying in Bengali
- চেষ্টা করছে, চেষ্টা করা হচ্ছে, চেষ্টা করে
trying in Telugu
- ప్రయత్నిస్తున్నారు
More languagesFewer languages
- trying in Malayalam
- ശ്രമിക്കുന്നു
- trying in Kannada
- ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸುತ್ತಿದೆ, ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ, ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸುತ್ತಾ
- trying in Odia
- ଚେଷ୍ଟା କରୁଛି, ଚେଷ୍ଟା କରୁଛନ୍ତି
Examples of trying in a sentence
- I was trying to drink out of the bottle while the top was still on!
- My dear man, you ought to think twice about who you're trying to blackmail.
- I’m trying to correct my sagging floor by sistering the joists.
Forms of trying
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more trying |
| superlative | most trying |
| Noun | |
| plural | tryings |
Origin of trying
From try + -ing.
Words formed from trying
Phrases with trying
- trying on
- trying out
- trying it on
- trying titles
- trying for size
- trying one's hand
- trying one's luck
- for lack of trying
- trying conclusions
- trying on for size
- trying one's wings
- trying it on the dog
2 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with trying
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- buying
- clying
- complying
- decrying
- defying
- denying
- descrying
- dyeing
- espying
- forbuying
- frying
- goodbyeing
- high-flying
- highing
- implying
- lyeing
- lying
- mistrying
- nighing
- outvying
- pieing
- plying
- prying
- rebuying
- redyeing
- refrying
- relying
- replying
- retrying
- retying
- scrying
- shanghaiing
- shying
- sighing
- skying
- speed flying
- spying
- stying
- supplying
- thighing
- unbuying
- uncrying
- undrying
- undyeing
- undying
- unflying
- unfrying
- unlying
Questions about trying
- What does trying mean?
- Trying means difficult to endure; arduous.
- What is trying in Hindi?
- Trying in Hindi is प्रयासरत (prayāsrat). See Trying meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is trying?
- Trying can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce trying?
- Trying is pronounced /ˈtɹaɪ.ɪŋ/.
Words near trying in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: trying (page history and authors); trying (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trying (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trying (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trying (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trying (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trying (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-trying.ogg.
Cite this entry: “trying.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/trying. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.