It usually is translated as "frustrating" or "annoying" and from time to time, it can also be loosely translated as "suffocating". 1.영어로/한국어로 대화하기 힘들 때 기분이 답답해요? --> It's so frustrating (or annoying) when I find it hard to converse in English/Korean. 2. 집에 빨리 가고 싶은데 차가 막힐 때 기분도 답답해요? --> It's so annoying (frustrating) when I want to get home as quickly as possible but there's so much traffic. 3. 출근 시간에는 지하철에 사람이 너무 많아서 답답해요. --> So many people on the subway suffocate me (or "it's suffocating to be on the subway with so many people") during the morning rush hour. ---------------------------------- I've thought about the situations where I would use 답답해, 답답해요, 답답하다 and here is what I've been able to come up with: 1) The other person is (or people are) are so stupid and dumb, it actually frustrates you. 2) When you want to fix a certain situation but you find that there simply is no way... (That's frustrating..!) 3) Say I'm a prisoner but I'm in the prison because I was falsely accused of a crime I never committed. Super frustrating!!! etc. Hope that helps.