irritating

[ ir-i-tey-ting ]

adjective

1. causing irritation; annoying; provoking;

   irritating questions.

Other Words From

• irri·tating·ly adverb
• non·irri·tating adjective
• un·irri·tating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of irritating¹

First recorded in 1700–10; irritat(e) + -ing ²

Example Sentences

This recycled gossip is tiresome, but what’s most irritating about “A Bright Ray of Darkness” is that it’s really good.

From Washington Post

Many people find it difficult to create a seal with traditional cups, and the stem on them is irritating.

From Fortune

All the effort was aimed at making the banners less irritating.

From Fortune

At times, this relentlessness can make The Life You Can Save irritating.

From Vox

So, try your best not to get angry with them, no matter how irritating they can be.

From Popular-Science

If couples can seem smug and self-enclosed, the married single represents an even more irritating manifestation of that.

From The Daily Beast

It reminds me of an uncle of mine who said the London Blitz was irritating.

From The Daily Beast

But in addition to all of that, it's also really irritating—and not just by New Yorker standards.

From The Daily Beast

This strain of enterovirus seems unusually provocative in irritating lower airways, thereby causing airway narrowing.

From The Daily Beast

As mildly irritating as David Tseng may be, he is not someone who troubles me enough to even bother with.

From The Daily Beast

The nasty scandal at the Pandemonium had been particularly irritating to Haggard personally.

From Project Gutenberg

Their boasted successes, the crowding of colonies, schemes of settlement and development,—all were disagreeable and irritating.

From Project Gutenberg

If irritating to the skin, these lotions can be made weaker, or less frequently applied than might otherwise be necessary.

From Project Gutenberg

It took him some moments to recognize them as the irritating rustling of his silken dress.

From Project Gutenberg

The prince said nothing, but the smile that played upon his thin lips was a sufficient and most irritating answer.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• annoying
• bothersome
• disturbing