annoy
Americanverb (used with object)
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annoys,
present (3rd person singular)
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annoyed,
past participle, past
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annoying
present participle
verb (used without object)
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annoys,
present (3rd person singular)
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annoyed,
past participle, past
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annoying
present participle
noun
verb
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to irritate or displease
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to harass with repeated attacks
Usage
What does annoy mean? Annoy means to bother or irritate. The word implies that the resulting irritation does not rise to the level of serious harm or a major problem—even if someone or something annoys you very much. People usually annoy through some kind of irritating and unwanted behavior (especially when it’s repeated), such as chewing too loudly or asking you the same question over and over again. Things that annoy are often those that distract, interrupt, or intrude on what you’re trying to do, like a noise that keeps waking you up when you’re trying to fall asleep or a pop-up ad. Someone who is bothered in this way can be described as annoyed. Someone or something that annoys you can be described as annoying. Someone or something that annoys you can be called an annoyance. Less commonly, annoy means to harass. In this case, the results are more serious than the more common meaning of annoy. Example: Mom, Jeff is trying to annoy me again! He keeps humming!
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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annoysimple
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annoyssimple
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have annoyedperfect
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has annoyedperfect
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am annoyingprogressive
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are annoyingprogressive
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is annoyingprogressive
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have been annoyingperfect progressive
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has been annoyingperfect progressive
Past
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annoyedsimple
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had annoyedperfect
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was annoyingprogressive
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were annoyingprogressive
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had been annoyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of annoy
First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the verb) Middle English an(n)oien, enoien, from Anglo-French, Old French anoier, anuier “to molest, harm, tire,” from Late Latin inodiāre “to cause aversion,” from Latin phrase (mihi) in odiō (est) “I dislike,” literally, “(it is) in hate (to me)”; cf. in- 2, odium; (for the noun) Middle English a(n)noi, ennoi, from Anglo-French, Old French a(n)nui, enui, derivative of the verb ( cf. ennui ( def. ))
Explanation
The verb annoy means to bother or irritate. Your habit of constantly talking about your cats might annoy your friends more than you realize. When you annoy someone, you really rub them the wrong way. Often, the things that annoy people the most are those that are repeated again and again, like your habit of snorting every time you laugh or the screeching sound that your dishwasher makes day after day. Although the word annoy comes from the Latin phrase esse in odio, "it is hateful to me," its meaning now is less "hateful" and more "bothersome."
Vocabulary lists containing annoy
Beowulf vocabulary
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The Sound and the Fury: Synonyms for "Anger"
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Anger (verb)
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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.
See Examples For:
Some days, these meetings annoy me so much that I want to quit.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
He traced this instinct to challenge those systems back to Socrates’ “gadfly” — the person whose job was to annoy power.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
One surefire way to annoy a troll is to call their efforts for attention an “obsession.”
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026
He started doing it because it was a good way to annoy his dad, and it has stuck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
“Top of the class,” Elliot said in his matter-of-fact way that used to annoy me but didn’t anymore.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
That is the kind of talk that annoys Meyer, who noted the San Diego Padres used to take from the revenue-sharing fund and now pay into it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
“That’s why it annoys me when we are dubbed the ‘lazy’ generation, or the generation that needs to cut back on avocado toast,” a user posting under the name Charlie Louise said on TikTok.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 10, 2026
Reader William J. McHale cited tailgaters as one of the driver types that annoys him the most.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
The feature that annoys me the most is the “check the back seat” alarm that goes off whenever I exit the car, having placed anything in the back, or simply having opened the back door.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 20, 2025
That’s what Bubbe says when someone annoys her.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
But he predicted a backlash against Burnham from traditional media annoyed at being "frozen out".
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
“I was very surprised, and also annoyed, that we had to find out about something like this from the press,” he told a German news outlet last week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
She never answers my messages and seems annoyed when I ask questions.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
This is re-emerging as a rallying cry for foreign leaders such as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz annoyed that their countries are buying so many imports from China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
When Martha Washington—or “Lady Washington” as she was known to most people—realized what had happened, she was more than simply annoyed.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
You don’t want to be fumbling around at the kiosks, annoying the passengers in line behind you.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Despite the evidence that so many of us find it annoying, we also appear hugely reluctant to actually do anything about it.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
But it’s not only annoying pink welts that Faraji’s team is concerned about.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Yes, it’s annoying to have to hear about it every day, but it’s your decision when to tell us where you’re going to play your 24th season of pro ball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
But he’s been so awful and annoying that I refuse to speak to him.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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.
