Meaning & use
botheration
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Meanings
noununcountableold-fashioned
A feeling of mild annoyance or worry, or something that causes it.
Grammar: Used without 'a' or a plural: 'Such botheration!'
Patterns
- a lot of botheration
- cause botheration
The endless paperwork was a real botheration.
He sighed with botheration when he saw the long queue.
What a botheration this broken printer is!
interjectionold-fashionedinformal
Used to express mild annoyance or frustration.
Grammar: Stands alone as an exclamation, often followed by '!'.
Patterns
- Botheration!
Botheration! I've forgotten my keys again.
Oh, botheration, the bus just left.
Common combinations
- a real botheration
- Losing the tickets was a real botheration.
- cause botheration
- The delay caused a lot of botheration for everyone.
- Oh, botheration!
- Oh, botheration! I spilled my tea.
Synonyms and how they differ
- annoyance
- More neutral and common; 'annoyance' is the standard noun, while 'botheration' sounds dated and informal.
- bother
- Shorter and more modern; 'bother' is used in everyday speech, but 'botheration' is old-fashioned.
- nuisance
- Countable and often refers to a person or thing; 'botheration' is uncountable and refers to the feeling or the trouble itself.
Opposites
Word family
- bother verb
- To annoy or worry someone.
- bothersome adjective
- Causing trouble or annoyance.
Commonly confused: botheration or bother?
botheration vs bother
'Bother' is the modern, common word; 'botheration' is an old-fashioned, emphatic variant.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'botheration' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Botheration' can be an exclamation of annoyance, as in option B. Option An is unnatural because 'botheration' is not usually used with 'deep' and sounds odd in that structure. Option C invents a verb 'botherationed' that does not exist. Option D treats it as a plural countable noun, but it is uncountable or an interjection.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “botheration”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.