Frustration
/frʌˈstreɪʃən/noun
The feeling of being thwarted, blocked, or made unable to achieve a goal.
Did you know?Frustration comes from Latin *frustrari*, meaning to deceive, disappoint, or make vain, so the word originally carried the eerie sense of being tricked out of your outcome.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
frustratio
“an act of disappointing, defeating, or rendering vain”
Latin
Latin
frustrari
“to deceive, disappoint, or make futile”
Latin
Latin
frustra
“in vain, to no purpose”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*per-
“to strike, hit, or pass through; the deeper origin is uncertain and debated in scholarship”
14th Century
English
frustracioun
“the act of making something ineffective or vain”
Modern English
English
frustration
“the state of being thwarted or annoyed when blocked from achieving something”
Explore more surprising origins