irritable

[ir-i-tuh-buhl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR irritable ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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.

Origin of irritable

1655–65; < Latin irrītābilis, equivalent to irrītā(re) to irritate + -bilis -ble

Related formsir·ri·ta·ble·ness, nounir·ri·ta·bly, adverbnon·ir·ri·ta·ble, adjectivenon·ir·ri·ta·ble·ness, nounnon·ir·ri·ta·bly, adverbun·ir·ri·ta·ble, adjectiveun·ir·ri·ta·bly, adverb

Synonyms for irritable

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR irritable ON THESAURUS.COM

1. 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. 2019

Related Words for irritable

contentious, testy, petulant, resentful, fractious, surly, annoyed, prickly, exasperated, cantankerous, carping, choleric, complaining, cross, crotchety, disputatious, dissatisfied, dyspeptic, fiery, fretful

Examples from the Web for irritable

Contemporary Examples of irritable

Take, for example, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a condition that affects some 15 percent of Americans.
Clinton Doc: This Is How We’ll Fix Health Care
Daniela Drake
June 12, 2014
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 Diseases
Daniela 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.
Newt Gingrich Will Be Everyone's Target on the Next Debate
Mark McKinnon
December 10, 2011
Like alcoholics, gambling addicts are often secretive, irritable, and unable to cut back.
Are You a Gambling Addict?
Kate Dailey
April 3, 2011

Historical Examples of irritable

It will be guessed that Mr. Chalmers Payne was in an irritable frame of mind.
Quaint Courtships
Various
Casanova, however, had suddenly grown distrait and irritable.
Casanova's Homecoming
Arthur Schnitzler
You shall not complain of an inattentive or an irritable auditor.
Vivian Grey
Earl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli
Ninian joined them on the following day, very cheerless and irritable.
Changing Winds
St. John G. Ervine
Recollect that he is suffering under his wound, which has made him irritable.
The Pirate and The Three Cutters
Frederick Marryat

British Dictionary definitions for irritable

irritable

adjective

quickly irritated; easily annoyed; peevish

(of all living organisms) capable of responding to such stimuli as heat, light, and touch

pathol abnormally sensitive

Derived Formsirritability, nounirritableness, nounirritably, adverb

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.

irritable in Medicine

irritable

[ĭr′ĭ-tə-bəl]

adj.

Capable of reacting to a stimulus.

Abnormally sensitive to a stimulus.