- present participle of irritate.
irritating
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of irritating
First recorded in 1700–10; irritat(e) + -ing 2
Explanation
If something's irritating, it annoys you. To most people, tuneless whistling and fingernails on a chalkboard are both irritating sounds. Irritating things bug you. A little kid kicking the back of your seat on an airplane, a driver who follows you too closely on the highway, an early morning work crew right outside your bedroom window — all of these things can be irritating. A more physical way for something to be irritating is if it causes irritation — like a rash or soreness or pain. Your new watch may be irritating to your skin, leaving a red mark on your wrist.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Irritating as Sutton’s opinion was, it set into motion the final smack down between gay couples and the states that forbade their marriages.
From Slate • Aug. 4, 2015
But the fact that we live in the Age of the Irritating Parent shouldn’t be conflated with the rise of allergies.
From Slate • Apr. 23, 2013
Irritating at first, the conceit works by meshing with Wagner's opera instead of conflicting with it.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 3, 2011
Irritating and unnecessary though they often were, one must grieve to see that they have apparently perished from the earth.
From The Guardian • Oct. 17, 2010
Irritating, and irritatingly familiar, like something she was supposed to remember but couldn’t.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
