面倒くさい – If you look up (調べる) 面倒くさい in the dictionary, you will find words such as “troublesome,” “tiresome,” “a pain,” and “a bother.” But there is another word that native speakers use quite often, and that’s “nuisance”. Here are some different ways to say 面倒くさい, depending on the situation (状況によって).
Nuisance – When you want to talk about small jobs that you don’t like doing, “nuisance”
is the best word. Words like “troublesome” and “a pain” are too strong.
例：Taking out the garbage
(ゴミを出す) is a nuisance.
例：Doing paperwork is a nuisance.
例：Taking care (世話する) of my little brother is a nuisance.
Troublesome – When something really causes “trouble”
then you can use the word troublesome, but be careful, because it’s stronger than
“nuisance.”
例：Many of my customers are
rude (失礼), so serving them is really
troublesome.
例：My boss asked me to do
a really troublesome job and I’m very worried about it.
Tiresome – This word is used for things that are not so bad, but they happen over
and over again so they become 面倒くさい。It also has a strong negative (否定的) nuance.
例：His bad jokes are really
tiresome.
例：The morning meeting is
really tiresome because it’s always the same.
A pain – The strongest way to say 面倒くさい is “a pain.” Be careful, because “a pain” means 痛み, so it can sound like you really hate something.
例：Taking the crowded trains
every day is a pain.
Bother – This word is very close to 面倒くさい but it is very formal (硬い言葉) and is a little old-fashioned (古臭い).
例：Cleaning my room every
week is a bother.
As you can see there are many ways to say 面倒くさい, but probably 90 percent of the time, it is best to use “nuisance.”
-Ed