nuisance

From Middle English noysaunce, from Anglo-Norman nusaunce, nussance and Old French nuisance, from nuisir (“to harm”), from Latin nocēre.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnuː.səns/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnjuː.səns/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -uːsəns

nuisance (countable and uncountable, plural nuisances)

1. A minor annoyance or inconvenience.

   The neighbor's dog barking throughout the night is a right nuisance - I'm going to complain.

   • 2010, Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data, 2nd edition, The MIT Press, page 407:

     By itself, nondifferentiability at zero is a minor nuisance.

2. A person or thing causing annoyance or inconvenience.

   You can be such a nuisance when you don't get your way.

   • 2017 March 14, Stuart James, “Leicester stun Sevilla to reach last eight after Kasper Schmeichel save”, in the Guardian‎:

     With Vardy working tirelessly up front, chasing lost causes and generally making a nuisance of himself, Sevilla were never allowed to settle on a night when the atmosphere was electric inside the King Power Stadium.

3. (law) Anything harmful or offensive to the community or to a member of it, for which a legal remedy exists.

   a public nuisance

• (minor annoyance or inconvenience): annoyance, inconvenience, offense
• (person or thing causing annoyance or inconvenience): bother, obstacle, pest

• (antonym(s) of “minor annoyance or inconvenience”): enjoyment

• nuisance on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Inherited from Old French nuisance, from nuisir (“to harm”) (compare also French nuire), from Latin nocēre; may correspond to Late Latin nocentia.

• IPA^(key): /nɥi.zɑ̃s/
• Rhymes: -ɑ̃s

nuisance f (plural nuisances)

1. nuisance
2. pollution

   Les nuisances sonores sont un véritable fléau dans ce quartier.

   Noise pollution is a real scourge in this neighbourhood.

• nuire

• “nuisance”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.