Maddening describes something that makes you very annoyed — the kind of annoyed where you want to shout, but often you cannot fix it. A dripping tap, a phone that keeps buffering, a person who is almost ready but never quite ready: those are maddening.

Maddening describes something that makes you very annoyedmaddening形容的是讓你非常煩躁的事——the kind of annoyed where you want to shout那種煩到想大叫，but often you cannot fix it但常常又沒辦法解決的煩躁。A dripping tap像是一直滴水的水龍頭、a phone that keeps buffering一直在緩衝的手機、a person who is almost ready but never quite ready或是一個看起來快好了卻永遠沒真的好的人：those are maddening這些都是maddening。

In ordinary talk it means “really, really annoying.” In slightly stronger or older use it can feel closer to “enough to make you lose your mind,” but most of the time it is not about real madness; it is about patience running out.

In ordinary talk it means "really, really annoying."在一般說法裡，它的意思是「真的、真的很煩」。In slightly stronger or older use it can feel closer to "enough to make you lose your mind,"用得比較強烈或比較老派時，感覺會更接近「煩到快抓狂」，but most of the time it is not about real madness但大多數時候它跟真的發瘋無關；it is about patience running out而是關於耐心用完了。

It is an adjective (a maddening delay), not the action itself.

It is an adjective它是形容詞 (a maddening delay)（像a maddening delay），not the action itself不是動作本身。

It is common in writing and in careful speech; in very casual talk people may just say so annoying or driving me crazy.

It is common in writing and in careful speech它在寫作和講究一點的口語裡很常見；in very casual talk people may just say so annoying or driving me crazy在非常隨性的口語裡，大家可能就直接說so annoying或driving me crazy。