irritated
Americanadjective
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angered, provoked, or annoyed.
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inflamed or made raw, as a part of the body.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of irritated
Explanation
When you're irritated, you're annoyed. You'd probably be irritated if someone ate the leftover Indian food that you were saving for lunch. The adjective irritated describes a state that's a little milder than anger. When you're irritated about something, you're impatient or exasperated, the way you feel when someone rubs you the wrong way. Irritated can also mean this quite literally; your wrist might be irritated by the rubbing of your new watch band. The word irritated comes from the Latin irritatus, which means "excite or provoke." Anything that provokes you in an annoying way can make you irritated.
Vocabulary lists containing irritated
Emotions on Display
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In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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Mad Infinitum: Synonyms for "Angry"
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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.
Irritated by Clark giving up one early shot so that he could pass to Dent, Cronin asked everyone in the locker room at halftime if they wanted Clark to pass up open shots.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025
Irritated by their lack of clarity, he told an agent that had told him of Newcastle's interest: "Tell them to call me directly and not beat around the bush."
From BBC • Nov. 1, 2025
Irritated, he repeated, “Where did you see it?”
From Scientific American • Jun. 14, 2023
Irritated that visitors were trying to photograph his daughter, Grover Cleveland closed the South Grounds in 1893, and William Howard Taft restricted the North Grounds to certain days in 1913.
From New York Times • Jun. 5, 2020
Irritated at how transparent I must seem, I muttered, “She’s not my girl.”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
