irk
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have irkedperfect
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has irkedperfect 3rd person singular
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have been irkingperfect progressive
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is irkingprogressive 3rd person singular
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irkingparticiple
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am irkingprogressive 1st person singular
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are irkingprogressive
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has been irkingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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irkssingular 3rd person
Past
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had irkedperfect
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was irkingprogressive singular
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had been irkingperfect progressive
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were irkingprogressive plural
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irkedsimple
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irkedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of irk
1300–50; Middle English irken to grow tired, tire < Old Norse yrkja to work, cognate with Old English wyrcan; see work
Explanation
The verb irk means "annoy," so if the incessant barking of your next door neighbor's pug is driving you crazy, you can say that the noise irks you. Being irked is an individual thing — what drives you crazy might be something your friend doesn't even notice. For example, it might irk your grammarian friend every time he hears someone says "ain't," but other people don't mind it. The earliest version of the word irk, irken, meant "to feel weary or tired," but it later came to mean "to tire of or to be disgusted with."
Vocabulary lists containing irk
English Words Derived from Old Norse
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Touching Spirit Bear
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Essential Three-Letter Words, Part 3
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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.
The New Town, known also as Irish Town, stretches up a hill of clay, beyond the Old Town, between the Irk and St. George’s Road.
From The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 with a Preface written in 1892 by Kelley, Florence
It is situated in the neighbourhood of four rivers, viz., the Irwell, Medlock, Irk, and Tib.
From The Towns of Roman Britain by Bevan, James Oliver
The newly-built extension of the Leeds railway, which crosses the Irk here, has swept away some of these courts and lanes, laying others completely open to view.
From The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 with a Preface written in 1892 by Kelley, Florence
Irk, to become slothful, grow weary, tire, 2709.
From Lancelot of the Laik A Scottish Metrical Romance by Skeat, Walter W. (Walter William)
In Manchester, the pauper burial-ground lies opposite to the Old Town, along the Irk: this, too, is a rough, desolate place.
From The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 with a Preface written in 1892 by Kelley, Florence
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.
