irritable
Americanadjective
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easily irritated or annoyed; readily excited to impatience or anger.
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Physiology, Biology. displaying irritability.
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Pathology. susceptible to physical irritation.
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Medicine/Medical. abnormally sensitive to a stimulus.
adjective
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quickly irritated; easily annoyed; peevish
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(of all living organisms) capable of responding to such stimuli as heat, light, and touch
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pathol abnormally sensitive
Related Words
Irritable, testy, touchy, irascible are adjectives meaning easily upset, offended, or angered. Irritable means easily annoyed or bothered, and it implies cross and snappish behavior: an irritable clerk, rude and hostile; Impatient and irritable, he was constantly complaining. Testy describes the same kind of behavior or response, particularly to minor annoyances: always on edge, testy and sharp in response; testy and petulant, resenting any interruption. Touchy emphasizes oversensitivity and readiness to take offense, even when none is intended: especially touchy about any reference to obesity. Irascible means habitually angry or easily aroused to anger: an irascible tyrant, roaring at employees for the slightest error.
Other Word Forms
- irritability noun
- irritableness noun
- irritably adverb
- nonirritable adjective
- nonirritableness noun
- nonirritably adverb
- unirritable adjective
- unirritably adverb
Etymology
Origin of irritable
First recorded in 1655–65; from Latin irrītābilis, equivalent to irrītā(re) “to irritate ” + -bilis -ble
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.
I follow him to our darkened compartment, which is already occupied by three sleeping soldiers, a stout nun, and an irritable hen.
From Literature
He broke the Dutchman again on his opening serve in the second set and moved to 4-2, but it was a struggle and he became noticeably more irritable.
From Barron's
The findings may also be relevant for other conditions associated with gut inflammation, including irritable bowel syndrome, chronic liver disease, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
From Science Daily
I began, turning my charm first on to Mrs. Maroney and then her irritable offspring.
From Literature
Her bloating and weight loss were originally put down to irritable bowel syndrome until she became so ill she ended up in A&E.
From BBC
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.
