irritated
Americanadjective
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angered, provoked, or annoyed.
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inflamed or made raw, as a part of the body.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of irritated
Explanation
When you're irritated, you're annoyed. You'd probably be irritated if someone ate the leftover Indian food that you were saving for lunch. The adjective irritated describes a state that's a little milder than anger. When you're irritated about something, you're impatient or exasperated, the way you feel when someone rubs you the wrong way. Irritated can also mean this quite literally; your wrist might be irritated by the rubbing of your new watch band. The word irritated comes from the Latin irritatus, which means "excite or provoke." Anything that provokes you in an annoying way can make you irritated.
Vocabulary lists containing irritated
Emotions on Display
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In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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Mad Infinitum: Synonyms for "Angry"
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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.
Some purist footballers are particularly irritated by a lack of grass fields, as they offer a different playing experience to the artificial turf or concrete surfaces most common in New York.
From Barron's • Jul. 9, 2026
Provinces pulled US alcohol from shelves and Canadians significantly curbed travel south, which irritated the US in return.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
Rules around the promotion irritated customers and servers.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
"Few answers are going to be complete, especially when you cut me off all the time," the visibly irritated multibillionaire said as he resumed his duel Thursday morning with the defense attorney for OpenAI.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
Loki irritated the goat even more by tying a strong rope tightly around its beard.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
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.
