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Bother vs Messy - What's the difference?

bother | messy |

As a verb bother

is to annoy, to disturb, to irritate.

As a noun bother

is fuss, ado.

As an interjection bother

is a mild expression of annoyance.

As an adjective messy is

in a disorderly state; chaotic; disorderly.

bother

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To annoy, to disturb, to irritate.
  • Would it bother you if I smoked?
  • To feel care or anxiety; to make or take trouble; to be troublesome.
  • Why do I even bother to try?
  • * Henry James
  • without bothering about it
  • To do something which is of negligible inconvenience.
  • You didn't even bother to close the door.

    Synonyms

    * (annoy, disturb ): annoy, disturb, irritate, put out, vex * See also

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive'' or the ''gerund (-ing) . See

    Noun

  • Fuss, ado.
  • There was a bit of bother at the hairdresser's when they couldn't find my appointment in the book.
  • * '>citation
  • Trouble, inconvenience.
  • Yes, I can do that for you - it's no bother .

    Interjection

  • A mild expression of annoyance.
  • * 1926 , A A Milne, Winnie the Pooh'', Methuen & Co., Ltd., Chapter 2 ''...in which Pooh goes visiting and gets into a tight place :
  • "Oh, help!" said Pooh. "I'd better go back."
    "Oh, bother !" said Pooh. "I shall have to go on."
    "I can't do either!" said Pooh. "Oh, help and bother !"

    Synonyms

    * blast, dang (US ), darn

    messy

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • In a disorderly state; chaotic; disorderly.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Boundary problems , passage=Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory.}}
  • (of a person) Prone to causing mess.
  • (of a situation) Difficult or unpleasant to deal with.
  • Synonyms

    (in a disorderly state) untidy, chaotic, disorderly, cluttered

    Antonyms

    * neat * orderly

    Derived terms

    * messily * messiness

    Descendants

    * German: (l)