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
Derived 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.
As the drug is processed by the body and passed through urine it can cause the walls of the bladder to become irritated.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
Rules around the promotion irritated customers and servers.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Elon Musk became visibly irritated on the witness stand Wednesday as an attorney for OpenAI questioned whether the billionaire backed off his financial commitment to the startup in its early years.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
The remarks irritated Delhi, which has long rejected third-party mediation, and contributed to strains in India-US ties.
From BBC • May 7, 2026
I never once saw her irritated or angry, until the day the dog came, that is.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
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.
