frustrate

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English frustraten,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Latin frūstrātus,^{[2][3][5][6][7]} the past participle of frūstror (“to deceive, disappoint”),^[3][5][6][8] also frūstrō,^[8][3] from frūstrā (“in vain, in error”).^[8][6][3][4] The OED explains this adverb as apparently the plural of an unattested noun *frustrum, from the same base as fraus (“injury, deceit”) with the instrumental suffix -trum,^[8] and Klein similarly reconstructs *fraudtrom.^[9] Etymonline calls fraus a word of uncertain origin,^[6] while Ayto traces it to Proto-Indo-European *dhreu- (“to injure”).^[10] The Latin verb also gave French frustrer, from about 1355, and Italian frustrare, from before 1420.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Prevented from reaching a goal: the first record is the past participle, frustrat, in a 1445 translation of Claudian.^[8][2][5] The finite verb, to deprive a person of what he hoped for, follows in 1447 in O. Bokenham's Lives of Saints.^[8]

Semantic evolution

From about 1475, in R. Pecock, it meant to annul a law or end a right or contract,^[8] and the adjective meant void from 1496, now rarely;^[8] from about 1506 the verb meant to make ineffectual,^[8] then, from 1534, to stop a plan or endeavour from succeeding.^[8] Johnson (1755) gave the adjective frustrate as "vain; ineffectual" and "null; void", with Shakespeare's "our frustrate search on land".^[11] In 1610 it was first recorded for thwarting someone in an endeavour,^[8] and in 1876, in G. Eliot's Daniel Deronda, for the first time it meant to make someone annoyed or dissatisfied at being unable to achieve something.^[8][12] The noun frustration is recorded from 1461, as nullification, then from about 1555 as the act of frustrating or disappointment.^[5] The noun, a frustrated person, is rare: the OED has it from 1901, the Shorter Oxford from the mid 20th century.^[8][12][3]

Timeline

• 1445 – past participle, prevented from reaching a goal.^[8][2][5]
• 1447 – to deprive a person of something hoped for; adjective, ineffectual.^[8]
• c. 1475 – to annul a law or a right.^[8]
• 1496 – adjective, of a legal document, invalid.^[8]
• c. 1506 – to make something ineffectual.^[8]
• 1534 – to prevent a plan from succeeding.^[8]
• 1610 – to thwart a person in an endeavour.^[8]
• 1876 – to make someone annoyed or dissatisfied.^[8]
• 1901 – noun, a frustrated person.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To prevent a plan or effort from succeeding; to thwart: The storm frustrated the rescue attempt.^[13][8][12]
2. To stop a person from reaching a goal: Delays frustrated the builders at every stage.^[3][8]
3. To make someone feel annoyed or discouraged, especially at being unable to achieve something: The slow website frustrated every customer.^[13][3][8]
4. To make ineffectual; to neutralize or counteract; in law, to make void or annul.^[8][12]

Adjective

1. (archaic) Thwarted or disappointed; baffled.^[13][3][12]
2. (archaic) Having no effect; vain or null.^[3][12][11]

Noun

1. (rare) A frustrated person.^[3][8][12]

Word family

• frustrater
• frustratingly
• refrustrate
• frustration
• frustrative

Related words

• fraud

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins