What's the difference between annoying and vexatious?

Annoying


Definition:

  • (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Annoy
  • (a.) That annoys; molesting; vexatious.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Asked about white predominance in the sport, South African rugby journalist Paul Dobson replied: "If you suggest that again I'll get annoyed and put the phone down.
  • (2) He was 'annoyed' after a phone call with Maxine Carr, in which she'd told him she was going out 'again' with her mother that evening in Grimsby ('Do you like to control people?'
  • (3) When my pictures were published, some Star Wars fans were annoyed that the house in this picture had been left in such a state of disrepair.
  • (4) One of the most annoying complications of rhinoplasty is the supra-tip hump (pollybeak).
  • (5) Indeed, while people might be annoyed or alarmed at the idea of being given placebos, medics probably wouldn't need to were it not for the modern blight of the Worried Well clogging up consulting rooms.
  • (6) Although mumbling is frustrating and annoying at times, it may be a helpful clue to some of the client's most anxiety-provoking thoughts or feelings.
  • (7) Later, when Leven moved to another squat, in Maida Vale, London, he suggested they bring in a bass player and percussionist to form a band, and they started rehearsing "with mattresses around the walls to deaden the sound, but still annoying the neighbours".
  • (8) It’s annoying that we haven’t stretched our lead but we’ve got to accept that and take it forward.
  • (9) It is difficult to prove that noise is detrimental to our health; many people are annoyed by noise; however, only particular groups (children, the elderly, the handicapped, people who wear a hearing aid, people with heart disease) are affected as far as health is concerned, and it is these people who require special protection.
  • (10) Noise in open-plan computer rooms and annoyance and perceived deterioration in performance associated with it also appears to be a problem that may be similarly categorized.
  • (11) The program kept asking what my surname at birth was - annoying, since, despite getting married in 1994, I've had the same surname all my life.
  • (12) Our government understands that we have to help but if they send troops officially, that would annoy Europe, and Nato.
  • (13) Rather than getting annoyed, you’re feeling comforted.
  • (14) Amazon and MasterCard don't like it either, and their clients were probably annoyed.
  • (15) His annoyance was memorably captured by a BBC film crew for a documentary.
  • (16) And you can see that some writers' talents are fed by great exposure to society and then there are others – DH Lawrence is a good example – who think they want acceptance but actually they can't stand it and they've got to annoy people by pointing out uncomfortable things, and that's more me.
  • (17) Merkel will be annoyed that a group set up by the Tories has given a platform to her opponents.
  • (18) Information on safety and side effects is also presented, such as a possible increase in serum cholesterol levels and annoying side effects that may severely limit widespread use of this food supplement.
  • (19) After the second such call, my wife became annoyed at the intrusion he was making in our weekend.
  • (20) Irritations are mainly due to the particulate phase of environmental tobacco smoke, whereas the gas phase is to a large extent responsible for annoyance.

Vexatious


Definition:

  • (a.) Causing vexation; agitating; afflictive; annoying; as, a vexatious controversy; a vexatious neighbor.
  • (a.) Full or vexation, trouble, or disquiet; disturbed.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Unions blame 70% fall in employment tribunal cases on fees Read more “The government originally said making people pay would weed out vexatious claims.
  • (2) Stirling's attempt to refuse the request, calling it "vexatious", smacks of fear.
  • (3) Calling the story, originally published on gossip website TMZ “a vexatious lie”, Morrissey threatened legal action and claimed the matter is “in the hands of” Los Angeles police.
  • (4) The IPT invited us to respond to the security services' assertion that the claim was "vexatious", but was unable to tell us what their substantive response was – because the security services did not consent to Shaker knowing whether they had actually been defaming him in secret.
  • (5) The best contributions tell the truth, or if not the truth (a vexatious and flexible concept, given history’s tendency to be somewhat in the eye of the beholder) – then at least truth according to the person providing the story.
  • (6) He said that the "late submission of thousands of pages of documents was both vexatious and unreasonable".
  • (7) It is easy to accuse Clegg of mishandling the Rennard affair but he is at the mercy of a chaotic "open market" for vexatious litigation and of an upper chamber of Byzantine archaism desperately in need of reform.
  • (8) The paperwork that embodies government outsourcing, the physical contracts themselves, tells you a lot about how vexatious the whole business is.
  • (9) "What the commissioner has ruled is that he doesn't believe that the request is vexatious," a spokeswoman said.
  • (10) She doesn't believe that people willingly pursue "vexatious claims".
  • (11) "Frivolous or vexatious claims" could be struck out at an early stage.
  • (12) Parliament on Monday proposed no safeguards against this becoming a PPI-style stampede for anyone – including lobbyists – trying to grab a compulsory correction plus a quick payof f. Fining journalists for unethical deeds is a charter for the vexatious.
  • (13) Many complaints received by the IPT were "frivolous, vexatious" or even paranoid, he explained, some, for example, of the type where people claimed that listening devices had been implanted in their teeth by MI5.
  • (14) However, it would not be abhorrent to its business practices and shareholders: an algorithmic tweak knocking out a whole class of vexatious litigants would surely be worth it?
  • (15) It’s why we remove malware from our search results and other products.” Whetstone’s blog post poked fun at Thomson’s assertion that by undermining the “basic business model of professional content creators” such as News Corp, Google was helping create a “less informed, more vexatious level of dialogue”, with the result that “intemperate trends” across Europe would proliferate.
  • (16) The vexatious issue of the 'post-concussional syndrome' is discussed and the conclusion is reached that it is unlikely that this syndrome is solely produced by the possibility of compensation.
  • (17) The university said the firm's application, originally made anonymously through a London law firm, was "vexatious" and rejected it.
  • (18) Naylor's chief operating officer, Bridie Warner-Adsetts, said a reduction in "vexatious" employment tribunal claims would also benefit businesses.
  • (19) Undermining the basic business model of professional content creators will lead to a less informed, more vexatious level of dialogue in our society," he wrote.
  • (20) Robert Thomson, chief executive of the company, had accused Google of creating a “less informed, more vexatious level of dialogue in our society”.