headdesk
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
To bang one's head against the desk in frustration; (by extension) to express annoyance or exasperation.
Register: slang
Where it’s used:
Used
American English
Examples
Hopefully this will save someone else some head-desking; I'll see about writing up a patch for the docs describing this (unless I discover that I've been blind and this is, indeed, documented somewhere). :-D
Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Common questions
What does “headdesk” mean?
To bang one's head against the desk in frustration; (by extension) to express annoyance or exasperation.
Is “headdesk” formal or informal?
headdesk is generally slang.