Definition

1. Noun:

   • An irritating inconvenience or difficulty: A situation that is annoying, troublesome, or causes problems.
   • A conflict, argument, or struggle: A state of disagreement or a fight, often involving stress or effort.

2. Verb:

   • To harass, pester, or bother persistently: To annoy someone repeatedly or cause them trouble over time.
   • To argue or struggle with someone: To engage in a conflict or dispute, often in a persistent manner.

Examples

• Noun:

  • Getting a visa was a real hassle. (Obtaining a visa was a genuinely troublesome process.)
  • I avoid the city center to avoid the traffic hassle. (I avoid the city center to escape the irritating traffic problem.)

• Verb:

  • The salesperson hassled me until I agreed to listen. (The salesperson pestered me until I agreed to listen.)
  • They spent the afternoon hassling over the details of the contract. (They spent the afternoon arguing persistently over the contract's details.)

Advanced Usage

• "It's not worth the hassle": Used to say that the trouble or difficulty involved in doing something is not justified by the potential benefit.

  • Flying is faster, but with all the security checks, it's just not worth the hassle.

• "To hassle someone for something": To persistently ask or pressure someone to give you something.

  • The kids have been hassling me for a new video game all week.

Variants and Related Words

• Hassled (adj): Feeling stressed, bothered, or annoyed.

  • I feel really hassled after dealing with all those complaints.

• Hassle-free (adj): Without any trouble or difficulty.

  • We promise a hassle-free returns policy.

Synonyms

• Noun: Bother, trouble, nuisance, inconvenience, struggle, fuss.
• Verb: Harass, pester, bother, annoy, badger, nag.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Hassle" is not commonly used in standard phrasal verb constructions. The verb itself often takes a direct object or is used with "for" as shown in advanced usage.)

Related Idioms

• "A hassle and a half": (Informal) An extreme amount of trouble or difficulty.

  • Organizing the event turned out to be a hassle and a half.

• "To give someone hassle": To criticize, trouble, or argue with someone.

  • My boss gave me a lot of hassle about the report being late.

Noun

1. disorderly fighting
2. an angry disturbance
   • he didn't want to make a fuss
   • they had labor trouble
   • a spot of bother

Verb

1. annoy continually or chronically
   • He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked
   • This man harasses his female co-workers