adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Causing irritation, annoyance, or discomfort; bothersome, irksome. usually

   "My old car is very nettlesome."

2. 2
   Thorny; difficult to deal with, especially due to being complex or tricky. usually

   "The task of proving Fermat’s “last” theorem remains nettlesome."

Adjective

1. 1
   causing irritation or annoyance wordnet
2. 2
   easily irritated or annoyed wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

annoyingbothersomecrankyfractiousgallingill natured

Example

More examples

"Mackenzie made himself a nettlesome burr under Crook's saddle, irritating the commanding general."

Etymology

From nettle + -some.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.