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
Synonym Usage
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
Etymology
Origin of irritable
First recorded in 1655–65; from Latin irrītābilis, equivalent to irrītā(re) “to irritate ” + -bilis -ble
Explanation
If you're feeling on edge, like the smallest thing could bother you or make you lose your temper, you are irritable. Did I say something wrong? Irritable means "easy to irritate or bother." If you have irritable skin, you get a rash from just about anything. An irritable person is not easy-going and often not very easy to be around. You might feel like you're "walking on eggshells," or being extra careful not to upset your brother when he's in an irritable mood. Is there anything I can do to make you less irritable? Fetch your favorite blanket? Maybe I'll just go away now.
Vocabulary lists containing irritable
Curmudgeon, Cantankerous and Churlish: Grouchy Words
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Esperanza Rising
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myPerspectives 6.2
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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.
Franchisees, at least in analyst surveys, tend to be an irritable bunch.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
Faye Ramsey, 32, from Ipswich, spent 10 years in agony, with doctors suggesting she had irritable bowel syndrome before she was finally diagnosed last year.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
Such conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome, result in gastrointestinal symptoms related to the functioning of the autonomic nervous system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Patients with irritable bowel syndrome who took an experimental GLP-1 drug reported relief of acute pain and those with knee osteoarthritis and obesity have less knee pain though that can’t be separated from weight loss.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The blurred red glow at ankle level was the coal fire of the double range whose door was kicked shut just then with a great clang and an irritable shout.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
