irritable
[ir-i-tuh-buh l]
- easily irritated or annoyed; readily excited to impatience or anger.
- Physiology, Biology. displaying irritability.
- Pathology. susceptible to physical irritation.
- Medicine/Medical. abnormally sensitive to a stimulus.
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Origin of irritable
Synonyms
See more synonyms for irritable on Thesaurus.com1. snappish, petulant, resentful. 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for irritable
Contemporary Examples
Take, for example, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a condition that affects some 15 percent of Americans.
But new research shows it is indeed real, and may be the cause of asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, and more.
New Research Shows Poorly Understood “Leaky Gut Syndrome” Is Real, May Be the Cause of Several DiseasesDaniela Drake
March 27, 2014
She was irritable and ornery almost all of the time, and she seemed to be trying to distance herself from the others.
Inside Tania Head’s Terrible 9/11 Lie: ‘The Woman Who Wasn’t There’Robin Gaby Fisher, Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr.
April 6, 2012
And he came across as irritable and snarky when asked to provide a succinct answer on how to address health care.
Like alcoholics, gambling addicts are often secretive, irritable, and unable to cut back.
Historical Examples
It will be guessed that Mr. Chalmers Payne was in an irritable frame of mind.
Quaint CourtshipsVarious
Casanova, however, had suddenly grown distrait and irritable.
Casanova's HomecomingArthur Schnitzler
You shall not complain of an inattentive or an irritable auditor.
Vivian GreyEarl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli
Ninian joined them on the following day, very cheerless and irritable.
Changing WindsSt. John G. Ervine
Recollect that he is suffering under his wound, which has made him irritable.
The Pirate and The Three CuttersFrederick Marryat
irritable
- quickly irritated; easily annoyed; peevish
- (of all living organisms) capable of responding to such stimuli as heat, light, and touch
- pathol abnormally sensitive
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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 irritable
adj.
1660s, from French irritable and directly from Latin irritabilis "easily excited," from irritare (see irritate). Related: Irritably.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
irritable
(ĭr′ĭ-tə-bəl)- Capable of reacting to a stimulus.
- Abnormally sensitive to a stimulus.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.