trouble

TRUB-uhl/ˈtɹʌb(ə)l/

Pluraltroubles (some meanings)

Verbtroubles, troubling, troubled

19 meanings of trouble

Practice

1
strugglenoununcountable
Difficulty in doing something.
Without her glasses, she has real trouble reading the small print on the menu.
Readers have trouble telling the twins apart in the first chapters.
UsageUsually have trouble + -ing verb: have trouble reading (not ~~incorrect: have trouble to read~~). Also have trouble with something.
Similardifficulty
2
bad situationnoununcountable
A distressing or dangerous situation.
He was in trouble the moment the rain started and the river rose.
The company is in serious trouble after losing its biggest client.
UsageMostly in set phrases: in trouble, in serious trouble, get into trouble.
Similarpredicament, dilemma, plight, fix, jam
3
nouncountable or uncountable
A difficulty, problem, condition, or action that contributes to a distressing situation.
The trouble started when the factory closed and half the town lost their jobs.
Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles, the doctor says in Macbeth.
UsageOften cause trouble for someone; the trouble started when … tells how a problem began.
Similarproblem, difficulty, issue
4
upsetverbtransitive or intransitive
To make someone worried, upset or uneasy; also, to worry about something.
The doctor's long silence troubled her more than any bad news could.
Questions about the money trouble the auditors more than the missing files.
UsageOften passive (troubled by the news) or in the -ing form: what's troubling you?
Note
Of all the verb's senses, this one weighs most, sitting close to distress and torment. With a reflexive, as in Locke's never trouble yourself about those faults, it shades toward worry. It is heavier than the polite sense of bothering, which implies only inconvenience.
5
risk of punishmentnoununcountable
The risk of punishment, or a clash with the law or another authority.
He had some trouble with the law in his twenties and never spoke of it.
Anyone caught in the building after hours is in trouble.
UsageOften get into trouble, or in trouble with someone: in trouble with the police.
6
unrestnouncountable or uncountable
Violent or turbulent events; unrest, disturbance.
Call my uniform a livery again and there'll be trouble.
Police expect trouble whenever the two clubs meet.
UsageOften a vague warning: there'll be trouble. The Troubles names the long conflict in Northern Ireland.
Similardisturbance, turmoil, commotion, unrest, chaos
Oppositepeace, calm, order
Note
Two grammars carry this sense, and each does a different job. Without an article it is often a threat left vague on purpose: "there'll be trouble," warns a character in Joseph C. Lincoln's Mr. Pratt's Patients (1913). In the plural with the, the troubles names a long stretch of unrest in one place, as in Northern Ireland. Turmoil is close but broader; trouble here usually means fighting or disorder, not mere confusion.
7
effortnoununcountable
Effort or pains taken over something, often more than is strictly necessary.
She never took the trouble to close the gates.
Thanks for going to the trouble of driving me all the way to the airport.
UsageTake the trouble to do something, go to the trouble of doing it; it's no trouble politely plays a favor down.
Similareffort, bother, pains, care
Note
William Cullen Bryant's she never took the trouble hints at a small duty neglected. The verb of taking pains expresses the same idea as an action.
8
fault (machine)noununcountable
A malfunction.
Engine trouble forced the plane back to the airport.
The mechanic traced the trouble to a cracked hose.
UsageUsually after the thing that fails: engine trouble, car trouble, battery trouble.
Similarproblem, fault, malfunction, failure, breakdown
9
downsidenounusually singular
An objectionable feature of something or someone; a problem, drawback, weakness, or failing.
The trouble with cheap shoes is that they wear out within a few months.
His trouble was a temper that arrived before his judgment did.
UsageUsually the trouble with X is that …, or your trouble is that …, which sounds blunt aimed at someone.
Similarflaw, fault, defect, shortcoming, drawback
Oppositeadvantage, merit, strength
10
illnessnoununcountable
A medical problem or disorder, usually one affecting a specific part or organ of the body.
My father has had back trouble ever since he fell off a ladder.
Stomach trouble kept half the team in bed on the day of the match.
UsageUsually after the body part: back trouble, heart trouble. A vague, everyday way to name an illness.
Similarailment, illness, complaint, disorder, sickness
11
nouncountable or uncountable
Worry or distress as a feeling that someone has inside, as opposed to the situation or problem causing it.
He tried to sound cheerful on the phone, but I could hear the trouble in his voice.
A vague trouble followed her from the meeting into the evening.
Similardistress, anguish, grief, pain, torment
Oppositecalm

Less common meanings

12
verbtransitive
To cause someone minor inconvenience, especially by asking a favor of them.
Could I trouble you for a glass of water?
Sorry to trouble you so late, but the water has been cut off.
UsageUsed in polite requests and apologies: could I trouble you for some water, sorry to trouble you.
Similarbother, bug
13
bother yourselfverbintransitivereflexive
To take pains to do something; to bother.
Few visitors trouble to climb all the way to the top, but the view is worth the effort.
You don't need to trouble yourself with dinner; we'll order pizza.
UsageUsually with a negative: didn't trouble to lock it, don't trouble yourself. Bother is the everyday word.
Similarbother
Note
Effort shows up here as something one might decline to make, so the verb usually comes with a negative: I won't trouble to post the letter, or D. H. Lawrence's "But I didn't want you to trouble!" in Lady Chatterley's Lover.
14
bad influencenoununcountable
A person liable to place others or themselves in a difficult situation.
Her mother had said he was trouble, and her mother was right.
The new signing is talented but trouble in the dressing room.
UsageUsed with no a before it: he's trouble, that kid is trouble.
Similartroublemaker, menace, handful, nuisance
Note
A person can be trouble the way weather can, because the word stays a mass noun even when it points at someone. It works as a warning, and it is often delivered in hindsight, as in Taylor Swift's I Knew You Were Trouble.
15
cause painverbtransitive
Of an ailment or the like: to afflict physically.
A cough had troubled her all winter.
Old fractures trouble him whenever the weather turns damp.
Similarafflict, plague, bother, dog, ail
16
pregnancynoundateduncountable
An unplanned or unwanted pregnancy, dated slang.
In the old novel, the maid gets into trouble and the young lord refuses to marry her.
Girls in trouble were once hidden with relatives until the baby came.
Note
A dated euphemism hides pregnancy behind a vaguer word, almost always in the phrase in trouble, as in Bob Stone's Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves (1971), sung by Cher, where it describes a woman. Because it shares that phrase with the everyday "in trouble", only context tells them apart. Today it reads as old-fashioned and is best kept for period writing.
17
wife (slang)noundialectalCockneyusually singular
A wife.
The trouble's been on at me about our anniversary dinner.
He winked and said he had to get home to the trouble before she started to worry.
Similarwife, missus, lady, wifey
Note
Cockney rhyming slang is at work here. Trouble and strife rhymes with wife, and then the rhyming half is dropped, leaving the trouble. The joke depends on that hidden strife, so the word can sound affectionate or barbed depending on who says it. It belongs to Cockney and informal talk, and outside that setting, calling someone's wife the trouble risks giving offense.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Trouble and strife means wife in Cockney rhyming slang. en.wiktionary.org
Trouble meaning wife is shortened from trouble and strife, omitting the rhyming portion. en.wiktionary.org
18
stir waterverbarchaictransitive
To disturb, stir up, or agitate a medium, especially water, now rare.
An angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water.
For an Angel went downe at a certaine season into the poole, and troubled the water:
1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version
Similarstir, roil
Note
The physical stirring named by the Latin root behind the everyday sense survives here, applied to a liquid churned into disorder. It is now met mostly in older texts, above all the King James Bible of 1611, where an angel troubled the water of the pool. In modern writing stir or roil does the plain job, and this use sounds deliberately biblical.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Trouble has Latin ancestry associated with stirring and disorder. en.wiktionary.org
The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
The King James Bible describes an angel troubling the water of a pool. en.wikisource.org
19
noun
In mining, a fault or interruption in a stratum.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of trouble apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

The verb comes from Middle English troublen, borrowed from Old French troubler, a rearranged form of tourbler, from Vulgar Latin *turbulō, from Latin turbula ("a little crowd"), a diminutive of turba ("stir; crowd"). The noun comes from Middle English trouble, from Old French troble, formed from the verb.

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

The English verb descends from Middle English troublen, borrowed from Old French. en.wiktionary.org
Old French troubler represents metathesis of tourbler and descends from a reconstructed Vulgar Latin verb. en.wiktionary.org
The reconstructed Latin verb derives from turbula, a diminutive of turba. en.wiktionary.org
Latin turbula means a little crowd. en.wiktionary.org
Latin turba has the meanings stir and crowd. en.wiktionary.org
The English noun descends through Middle English from an Old French noun formed from the verb. en.wiktionary.org