irritate
verb (used with object)
to excite to impatience or anger; annoy.
were irritating
-
past progressiveof irritate.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
The persistent and mostly unsuccessful UW runs up the middle were irritating to watch as the game against Utah wore on, particularly when the few runs at the edges met with more success.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 4, 2020
It was thought that they were irritating, that they contained too much personality, that they couldn’t convey objectivity.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 3, 2019
And some odd bits of editing were irritating.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2019
Yes, the seeds, clustered at the fruit’s core, were irritating, but nearly everyone in the industry acknowledged the Duncan’s superiority.
From New York Times ● Mar. 20, 2017
These impolitic edicts, as they were irritating to the Moriscoes, were but preludes to an ordinance of so astounding a character as to throw the whole country into a state of revolution.
From History of The Reign of Philip The Second King of Spain Volume The Third and Biographical & Critical Miscellanies by William Hickling Prescott
