Meaning & use
so frustrating
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phraseinformal
extremely annoying or making you feel impatient because you cannot change or solve something
Grammar: 'So' here means 'very' and is used for emphasis before an adjective. It is common in speech and informal writing.
Patterns
- It is so frustrating when...
- something is so frustrating
- find something so frustrating
It's so frustrating when the internet stops working in the middle of a video call.
Waiting for a reply for days is so frustrating.
I find it so frustrating that I can't remember people's names.
Common combinations
- so frustrating when
- It's so frustrating when you miss the bus by seconds.
- find it so frustrating
- Many learners find it so frustrating to memorize irregular verbs.
- really so frustrating
- The delays were really so frustrating that we almost gave up.
Synonyms and how they differ
- so annoying
- Very similar, but 'annoying' focuses on irritation, while 'frustrating' adds a sense of being blocked or unable to succeed.
- so irritating
- Means causing annoyance; 'frustrating' often suggests repeated failure or lack of progress.
Opposites
Word family
- frustrate verb
- to make someone feel annoyed or defeated
- frustration noun
- the feeling of being annoyed or blocked
- frustrated adjective
- feeling annoyed because you cannot do something
Commonly confused: so frustrating or frustrating vs frustrated?
so frustrating vs frustrating vs frustrated
Use 'frustrating' for the thing that causes the feeling (a frustrating delay) and 'frustrated' for the person who feels it (I feel frustrated).
Practice
It's ______ when you study hard but still fail the test.
Choose one answer.
'So frustrating' describes the situation that causes the feeling. 'So frustrated' would describe how a person feels, not the situation.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “so frustrating”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.