frustrate

frustrate: frustrate, thwart, foil, baffle, balk, circumvent, outwit mean either to defeat a person attempting or hoping to achieve an end or satisfy a desire or, in some cases, to defeat another's desire.

To frustrate is to make vain or ineffectual all efforts, however feeble or however vigorous, to fulfill one's intention or desire

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whatever nature . . . purposes to herself, she never suffers any reason, design, or accident to frustrate—Fieiding
}

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my good intentions towards you . . . are continually frustrated— Cowper
}

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nature . . . supports as well as frustrates our lofty aspirations— Muller
}

To thwart is to frustrate especially by crossing or running counter to someone or something making headway

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others had thrust themselves into his life and thwarted his purposes— George Eliot
}

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public enforcement of hygienic practices is thwarted by a really obstructive neglect of the rules of health by her peasantry— Hobson
}

Foil commonly implies a blocking or turning aside that makes further effort difficult or destroys one's inclination to proceed further

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his attempts to replace ambition by love had been as fully foiled as his ambition itself— Hardy intelligence as a means to foil brute foree— Hearn
}

To baffle is to frustrate especially by confusing or puzzling; to balk, by interposing obstacles or hindrances

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such knotty problems of alleys, such enigmatical entries, and such sphinx's riddles of streets without thoroughfares as must, I conceive, baffle the audacity of porters and confound the intellects of hackney coachmen— De Quincey
}

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I like reading my Bible without being baffled by unmeaningnesses— Arnold
}

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when an affection as intense as that is balked in its direct path and repressed it usually, as we know, finds an indirect outlet— Brooks
}

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his inclination to dreams, balked by the persistent holding of his mind to definite things— Anderson
}

Circumvent implies frustration by stratagem; outwit, by craft or cunning

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immigration laws had been growing more and more effective .... But. . . the rejected aliens soon learned a method of circumventing them— Heiser
}

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the skill with which she [Elizabeth I] had hoodwinked and outwitted every statesman in Europe— J. R. Green
}

Analogous words: negative, counteract, Neutralize: defeat, beat, overcome, *conquer: *forbid, prohibit, inhibit: *prevent, preclude, obviate: *hinder, impede, obstruct, block, bar

Antonyms: fulfill

Contrasted words: effect, accomplish, achieve, *perform: further, forward, promote, *advance: *incite, instigate, abet, foment

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Synonyms:

Defeat, disappoint, balk, foil, baffle, disconcert, circumvent, check, thwart, disappoint, bring to nought, Vain, useless, ineffectual, frustrated, null, void, of no effect

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Frustrate — Frus trate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Frustrated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Frustrating}.] 1. To bring to nothing; to prevent from attaining a purpose; to disappoint; to defeat; to baffle; as, to frustrate a plan, design, or attempt; to frustrate the will or… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
frustrate — [frus′trāt΄] vt. frustrated, frustrating [ME frustraten < L frustratus, pp. of frustrare, frustrari, to disappoint, deceive < frustra, in vain: for IE base see FRAUD] 1. to cause to have no effect; bring to nothing; counteract; nullify [to… … English World dictionary
Frustrate — Frus trate, a. [L. frustratus, p. p. of frustrare, frustrari, to deceive, frustrate, fr. frustra in vain, witout effect, in erorr, prob. for frudtra and akin to fraus, E. fraud.] Vain; ineffectual; useless; unprofitable; null; voil; nugatory; of… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
frustrate — frus·trate / frəs ˌtrāt/ vt frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing: to make invalid or ineffectual: defeat the remedial purposes of the Workers Compensation Act should not be frustrated by rigid technical standards Palmer v. Bath Iron Works Corp., 559 A.2d… … Law dictionary
frustrate — (v.) mid 15c., from L. frustratus, pp. of frustrari to deceive, disappoint, frustrate, from frustra (adv.) in vain, in error, related to fraus injury, harm (see FRAUD (Cf. fraud)). Related: Frustrated; frustrating … Etymology dictionary
frustrate — [v] thwart, disappoint annul, arrest, baffle, balk, bar, beat, block, cancel, check, circumvent, confront, conquer, counter, counteract, cramp, cramp one’s style*, crimp, dash, dash one’s hope*, defeat, depress, discourage, dishearten, foil,… … New thesaurus
frustrate — ► VERB 1) prevent (a plan or action) from progressing or succeeding. 2) prevent (someone) from doing or achieving something. 3) cause to feel dissatisfied or unfulfilled. DERIVATIVES frustrated adjective frustrating adjective frustration noun … English terms dictionary
frustrate */ — UK [frʌˈstreɪt] / US [ˈfrʌˌstreɪt] verb [transitive] Word forms frustrate : present tense I/you/we/they frustrate he/she/it frustrates present participle frustrating past tense frustrated past participle frustrated 1) to make someone feel annoyed … English dictionary
frustrate — I. transitive verb (frustrated; frustrating) Etymology: Middle English, from Latin frustratus, past participle of frustrare to deceive, frustrate, from frustra in error, in vain Date: 15th century 1. a. to balk or defeat in an endeavor b. to… … New Collegiate Dictionary
frustrate — frus|trate [ frʌ,streıt ] verb transitive * to make someone feel annoyed and impatient by preventing them from doing or getting something: She has always been frustrated by her inability to draw. Activists and reformers are frustrated by the… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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