irritate
Americanverb (used with object)
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irritates,
present (3rd person singular)
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irritated,
past participle, past
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irritating
present participle
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to excite to impatience or anger; annoy.
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Physiology, Biology. to excite (a living system) to some characteristic action or function.
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Pathology. to bring (a body part) to an abnormally excited or sensitive condition.
verb (used without object)
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irritates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
irritated,
past participle, past
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irritating
present participle
verb
-
to annoy or anger (someone)
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(tr) biology to stimulate (an organism or part) to respond in a characteristic manner
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(tr) pathol to cause (a bodily organ or part) to become excessively stimulated, resulting in inflammation, tenderness, etc
Synonym Usage
Irritate, exasperate, provoke mean to annoy or stir to anger. To irritate is to excite to impatience or angry feeling, often of no great depth or duration: to irritate by refusing to explain an action. To exasperate is to irritate to a point where self-control is threatened or lost: to exasperate by continual delays and excuses. To provoke is to stir to a sudden, strong feeling of resentful anger as by unwarrantable acts or wanton annoyance: to tease and provoke an animal until it attacks.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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irritatesimple
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irritatessimple
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have irritatedperfect
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has irritatedperfect
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am irritatingprogressive
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are irritatingprogressive
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is irritatingprogressive
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have been irritatingperfect progressive
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has been irritatingperfect progressive
Past
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irritatedsimple
-
had irritatedperfect
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was irritatingprogressive
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were irritatingprogressive
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had been irritatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of irritate
1525–35; < Latin irrītātus, past participle of irrītāre to arouse to anger, excite, aggravate, equivalent to irritā- v. stem + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
To irritate is to cause an unsettling reaction, whether it's of the body or the nerves. You can irritate someone by talking too loudly on your cellphone in public. You can also irritate your skin, causing a rash or redness. To irritate is to disturb — either physically or psychologically. When you have an allergic reaction to something, you irritate or disturb the body. When you have an allergic reaction to your kid brother, he is probably irritating you with his annoying habits. And what is the result of something irritating? An irritation of course.
Vocabulary lists containing irritate
Because of Winn-Dixie
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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.
See Examples For:
A 4-2 defeat to Real Sociedad on Tuesday will irritate their perfectionist head coach, but there is plenty of time for him to fine-tune the Europa League holders before the start of the new campaign.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Inhaling MMA can irritate the lungs and, at high levels of exposure, can cause severe respiratory distress and hospitalization; long-term exposure has been linked to serious organ damage.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
Short-term exposure can irritate the lungs and nasal passages, and cause nausea and dizziness, said Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, Orange County’s health officer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
It can irritate the lungs and trigger serious breathing problems.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
The hauntedness would irritate him—the love would move him to fury.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
Talk of an eventual rebound irritates investors like Christopher Poch, whose firm Promethium Advisors owns 11,000 Whirlpool shares.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Traditional oral iron supplements can help, but they often leave behind unabsorbed iron that irritates the digestive tract and triggers inflammation.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2025
The ammonia gas irritates the nasal membranes, causing a reflex that increases breathing and heart rate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2025
What irritates him is the rhetoric from those who leave, that the Hong Kong they knew has died.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2024
For some reason it really irritates her that he eats so much cereal.
From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Athens in turn has been irritated by a Turkish plan to enshrine into domestic law claims over parts of the Aegean.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Managers were irritated when he asked questions about the breaches, the lawsuit said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Her in-laws had a different reaction: “We were showing them the house, and they got more irritated with every room — like, ‘You have books in here too?’
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
The audience gasped during the speech and were "irritated and annoyed" that someone had been on their phone, before cheering and applauding when the speech was over, the BBC understands.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
With an irritated switch of his tail, he spun around and slunk over to the narrow kitchen table.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
“It was real skinny, real wiry, real kind of irritating actually; listening to it almost hurt your head,” Wagoner said in Stephen Miller’s “Smart Blonde: The Life of Dolly Parton.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
There is something uniquely irritating about being emotionally pursued by a corporation that has also failed to notice you moved away.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
They said the coverage of the Instagram re-post row had been "deeply irritating" but added that the review was not directly linked to that incident.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
“Essential oils are natural and can be irritating allergens. And ‘chemical-free skincare’ is scientifically impossible; water is a chemical, lipids are chemicals, and vitamins are chemicals.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
There were no trails, and pressing through them was irritating.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
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.
