annoy

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!

The first records of the word annoy come from the 1200s. It comes from the Old French anoier, meaning “to tire” or “to harm.” This term derived from the Late Latin verb inodiāre, which means “to cause aversion” and itself comes from the Latin phrase mihi in odiō est, meaning “I dislike.”

People and things that annoy are doing something that you dislike—something that bothers you. Still, it’s usually something minor and not truly harmful. Annoy has a lot of synonyms that can be used in all kinds of annoying situations, including bother, aggravate, pester, vex, irritate, irk, exasperate, and perturb.

What are some other forms related to annoy?

• annoyed (past tense verb, adjective)
• annoying (continuous tense verb, adjective)
• annoyance (noun)
• annoyer (noun)
• half-annoyed (adjective)
• unannoyed (adjective)

What are some synonyms for annoy?

• bother
• irritate
• aggravate
• pester
• vex
• irk
• exasperate
• perturb
• harass

What are some words that share a root or word element with annoy? 

• ennui
• odium
• noisome

What are some words that often get used in discussing annoy?

• noise
• behavior
• brother
• sister
• neighbor
• customer

Annoy is a very common word that can be used in all kinds of contexts. It’s always used negatively.

My little brother is trying to annoy me by singing at the top of his lungs. Little does he know, I'm not bothered. I'm tuning him out.

— Jasmine Burgess (@Wildflower1908) May 13, 2011

Some people say someday you’ll miss the things that used to annoy you — like dirty socks on the floor — when someone is gone.

Nope. I miss a lot, but the things that annoyed me? I’m totally fine with those gone.

— Shannon Dingle (@ShannonDingle) December 31, 2019

what annoys me the most is when someone tells me how I should feel in a certain situation

— zoe(: (@zoeabriana06) September 20, 2020

Which of the following words is a synonym of annoy?

A. vex
B. irk
C. pester
D. all of the above