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What does “거슬리다” mean in Korean?

거슬리다 (geoseulrida) is the exact word for something that grates on you — a sound, a sight, a habit that rubs you the wrong way. Where a learner might fumble with “it bothers me,” a Korean says 소리가 거슬려서 (“the noise grates, so…”). The thing that irritates takes 가/이, and you usually pair it with 귀에 (to the ear) or 눈에 (to the eye): your senses are what it rubs against.

It’s related to 거스르다 (“to go against, to oppose”), formed with the -리- suffix, so the literal image is of something running against your grain — which is exactly how irritation feels. Hence the two stock collocations: 귀에 거슬리다 (“grating to the ear,” for an annoying noise) and 눈에 거슬리다 (“an eyesore,” for something you can’t stand the look of). Here the complaint is about loud chewing — 소리가 너무 커가지고 거슬려서 (“the sound’s so loud it grates, so…”) — a polite-but-pointed way to ask someone to keep it down before things escalate.