vexatious
/vɛkˈseɪʃəs/
"vexatious" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vexatious” is an uncommon English word, ranked #69,564 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #69,564
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Causing vexation or annoyance; teasing; troublesome.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | vexatious |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /vɛkˈseɪʃəs/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #69,564 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “vexatious” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for vexatious is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /vɛkˈseɪʃəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #69,564 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for vexatious, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: a 1650 vexation + -ous The correct English form is vexatious, spelled V-E-X-A-T-I-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Causing vexation or annoyance; teasing; troublesome.
- 2Full of trouble or disquiet
- 3Commenced for the purpose of giving trouble, without due cause.
- 4In the habit of starting vexatious litigation and therefore liable to have restraints placed on one's ability to access the courts.
Etymology
a 1650 vexation + -ous
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "vexatious"?
What does "vexatious" mean?
How do you pronounce "vexatious"?
What is the origin of the word "vexatious"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “vexatious”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-E-X-A-T-I-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /vɛkˈseɪʃəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.