irksome

[ urk-suhm ]
See synonyms for irksome on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. annoying; irritating; exasperating; tiresome: irksome restrictions.

  2. Obsolete. causing weariness or disgust.

Origin of irksome

1
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at irk, -some1

Other words from irksome

  • irk·some·ly, adverb
  • irk·some·ness, noun

Words Nearby irksome

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use irksome in a sentence

  • They had no power of attention even to a story, and the stillness was irksome to such wild colts.

    The Daisy Chain | Charlotte Yonge
  • They are as impertinent as those people who stop you only to bore you; but the former are perhaps less irksome.

  • There is a boundary even to human patience; and now, after many days, Max Bray began to find his position very irksome.

    By Birth a Lady | George Manville Fenn
  • Their harness is not apparently irksome to them, and is not so heavy as one sees on the Portuguese oxen, for instance.

    Spanish Life in Town and Country | L. Higgin and Eugne E. Street
  • It then grew very irksome to him to bear his irons, and he rarely went out to walk.

British Dictionary definitions for irksome

irksome

/ (ˈɜːksəm) /


adjective
  1. causing vexation, annoyance, or boredom; troublesome or tedious

Derived forms of irksome

  • irksomely, adverb
  • irksomeness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012