irk

[urk]

See more synonyms for irk on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to irritate, annoy, or exasperate: It irked him to wait in line.

Origin of irk

1300–50; Middle English irken to grow tired, tire < Old Norse yrkja to work, cognate with Old English wyrcan; see work

Synonyms for irk

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chafe, fret, bother; tire.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for irked

annoy, disturb, peeve, bother, inconvenience, irritate, rile, vex, gall, provoke, ruffle, miff, bug, nettle, harass, incommode, abrade, rasp, discommode, trouble

Examples from the Web for irked

Contemporary Examples of irked

Possibly Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed Rogozin to be irked.
Why Does the USA Depend on Russian Rockets to Get Us Into Space?
P. J. O’Rourke
June 22, 2014
In 2009 he published a book defaming Hitchens and Richard Dawkins because he was irked by their bellicose brand of atheism.
Do We Need to Be Told How to Read?
William Giraldi
June 6, 2013
Sure, Cruz recently irked fellow Senate Republicans by dissing them as “squishes” on gun control.
Squishes, Step Aside: Ted Cruz and Chris Christie’s Old-School Manliness
Michelle Cottle
May 13, 2013
The particular reform that irked Conkling was the then-novel proposal to eliminate patronage in federal civil service hiring.
Let's Talk About the 'Guest Worker' Program
David Frum
March 11, 2013
But some are irked by the extensive political posturing around rape, notably survivors and rape-crisis-center workers.
Richard Mourdock’s Comment Furthers Use of Rape to Win Election, Advocates Charge
Allison Yarrow
October 25, 2012

Historical Examples of irked

But he felt he had to conceal something from her, and it irked him.
Sons and Lovers
David Herbert Lawrence
It was soon seen, too, that just as he irked her, so she disparaged him—an open road to others.
On the Stairs
Henry B. Fuller
He continued pacing to and fro, irked by his predicament, frowning with thought.
Counsel for the Defense
Leroy Scott
After the humiliation of what had been said it irked Tabs to have to see him pay it.
The Kingdom Round the Corner
Coningsby Dawson
He shook himself, as though his clothes, perhaps his body even, irked him.
The Bright Messenger
Algernon Blackwood

British Dictionary definitions for irked

irk

verb

(tr) to irritate, vex, or annoy

Word Origin for irk

C13 irken to grow weary; probably related to Old Norse yrkja to work

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

Word Origin and History for irked

irk

mid-15c., irken "be weary of, be disgusted with;" earlier intransitive, "to feel weary" (early 14c.). Of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Old Norse yrkja "work" (from PIE root *werg- "to work;" see urge (v.)), or Middle High German erken "to disgust." Modern sense of "annoy" is from late 15c. An adjective, irk "weary, tired" is attested from c.1300 in northern and midlands writing.