vexes

Verb

vex (third-person singular simple present vexes, present participle vexing, simple past and past participle vexed or (archaic) vext)

1. (transitive) To annoy, irritate.
   • Billy's professor was vexed by his continued failure to improve his grades.

   Synonyms:

   agitate, irk, irritate, aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting, burn someone's ass

2. (transitive) To cause (mental) suffering to; to distress.
   • I will not again vex her ear with words of love, however true, however deep: ours is an evil destiny, and we may not control it!1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 151

   Synonyms:

   afflict, grame, torment

3. (archaic, transitive) To trouble aggressively, to harass.
   • In that tyme Herode the kynge layed hondes on certayne of the congregaciõ, to vexe them.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts xij:[1], folio clxxj, verso

   Synonyms:

   beset, hassle, badger, bait, bedevil, beleaguer, persecute, dog, bullyrag, besiege

4. (rare, transitive) To twist, to weave.
   • some English wool, vexed in a Belgian loom1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number)
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To be irritated; to fret.
   • Wake when thou would'st wake, fear nought, vex for nought1613, George Chapman, The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois

   Synonyms:

   chafe, fume

6. (transitive) To toss back and forth; to agitate; to disquiet.
   • White curl the waves, and the vexed ocean roars.1725, Homer, “Book IV”, in [Elijah Fenton], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC

See all 7 meanings of vex