Adjacent Words

Irritate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IR'RITATE, v.t. [L. irrito; in and ira, wrath.]
1. To excite heat and redness in the skin or flesh of living animal bodies, as by friction; to inflame; to fret; as, to irritate a wounded part by a coarse bandage.
2. To excite anger; to provoke; to tease; to exasperate. Never irritate a child for trifling faults. The insolence of a tyrant irritates his subjects.
3. To increase action or violence; to highten excitement in.
Air, if very cold, irritateth the flame.
4. To cause fibrous contractions in an extreme part of the sensorium, as by the appulse of an external body.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations; "Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me"; "It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves" [syn: annoy, rag, get to, bother, get at, irritate, rile, nark, nettle, gravel, vex, chafe, devil]
2: excite to an abnormal condition, or chafe or inflame; "Aspirin irritates my stomach" [ant: soothe]
3: excite to some characteristic action or condition, such as motion, contraction, or nervous impulse, by the application of a stimulus; "irritate the glands of a leaf"

Merriam Webster's

verb (-tated; -tating) Etymology: Latin irritatus, past participle of irritare Date: 1598 transitive verb 1. to provoke impatience, anger, or displeasure in ; annoy 2. to induce irritability in or of intransitive verb to cause or induce displeasure or irritation • irritatingly adverb Synonyms: irritate, exasperate, nettle, provoke, rile, peeve mean to excite a feeling of anger or annoyance. irritate implies an often gradual arousing of angry feelings that may range from mere impatience to rage <constant nagging that irritated me greatly>. exasperate suggests galling annoyance and the arousing of extreme impatience <his exasperating habit of putting off needed decisions>. nettle suggests a sharp but passing annoyance or stinging <your pompous attitude nettled several people>. provoke implies an arousing of strong annoyance that may excite to action <remarks made solely to provoke her>. rile implies inducing an angry or resentful agitation <the new work schedules riled the employees>. peeve suggests arousing fretful often petty or querulous irritation <a toddler peeved at being refused a cookie>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 excite to anger; annoy. 2 stimulate discomfort or pain in (a part of the body). 3 Biol. stimulate (an organ) to action. Derivatives: irritatedly adv. irritating adj. irritatingly adv. irritation n. irritative adj. irritator n. Etymology: L irritare irritat-

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Irritate Ir"ri*tate, v. t. [See 1 st Irritant.] To render null and void. [R.] --Abp. Bramhall.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Irritate Ir"ri*tate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Irritated; p. pr. & vb. n. Irritating.] [L. irritatus, p. p. of irritare. Of doubtful origin.] 1. To increase the action or violence of; to heighten excitement in; to intensify; to stimulate. Cold maketh the spirits vigorous and irritateth them. --Bacon. 2. To excite anger or displeasure in; to provoke; to tease; to exasperate; to annoy; to vex; as, the insolence of a tyrant irritates his subjects. Dismiss the man, nor irritate the god: Prevent the rage of him who reigns above. --Pope. 3. (Physiol.) To produce irritation in; to stimulate; to cause to contract. See Irritation, n., 2. 4. (Med.) To make morbidly excitable, or oversensitive; to fret; as, the skin is irritated by friction; to irritate a wound by a coarse bandage. Syn: To fret; inflame; excite; provoke; tease; vex; exasperate; anger; incense; enrage. Usage: To Irritate, Provoke, Exasperate. These words express different stages of excited or angry feeling. Irritate denotes an excitement of quick and slightly angry feeling which is only momentary; as, irritated by a hasty remark. To provoke implies the awakening of some open expression of decided anger; as, a provoking insult. Exasperate denotes a provoking of anger at something unendurable. Whatever comes across our feelings irritates; whatever excites anger provokes; whatever raises anger to a high point exasperates. ``Susceptible and nervous people are most easily irritated; proud people are quickly provoked; hot and fiery people are soonest exasperated.'' --Crabb.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Irritate Ir"ri*tate, a. Excited; heightened. [Obs.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(irritates, irritating, irritated) 1. If something irritates you, it keeps annoying you. Their attitude irritates me... Perhaps they were irritated by the sound of crying. = annoy VERB: V n, V n • irritated Not surprisingly, her teacher is getting irritated with her. ADJ 2. If something irritates a part of your body, it causes it to itch or become sore. Wear rubber gloves while chopping chillies as they can irritate the skin. VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Provoke, nettle, chafe, incense, exasperate, enrage, anger, fret, offend, vex, annoy, tease, gall. 2. (Med.) Inflame (by friction), excite, stimulate.

Moby Thesaurus

abrade, afflict, affront, agent provocateur, aggravate, agonize, ail, alienate, amplify, anger, annoy, arouse, augment, bite, bother, bristle, bug, build up, burn, burn up, chafe, come between, convulse, crucify, cut, damage, deepen, deteriorate, dilapidate, disaffect, distress, disunite, divide, embitter, endamage, enhance, enlarge, enrage, estrange, exacerbate, exasperate, excruciate, exercise, fan the flame, fester, fluster, fret, gall, get, give pain, gnaw, grate, grate on, gravel, grind, gripe, grit, harass, harm, harrow, harry, hassle, heat up, hector, heighten, hot up, huff, hurt, impair, incense, increase, inflame, inflict pain, injure, intensify, irk, jangle the nerves, jar on, kill by inches, lacerate, light the fuse, magnify, make acute, make trouble, make worse, martyr, martyrize, miff, nag, needle, nettle, nip, offend, pain, peeve, pester, pick at, pick on, pierce, pinch, pique, pit against, plague, prick, prolong the agony, provoke, put back, put on edge, put out, put to torture, rack, rankle, rasp, rile, roil, rub, ruffle, separate, set against, set at odds, set at variance, set on, set on edge, set up, sharpen, sic on, sour, sow dissension, stab, sting, stir the blood, stir up, stir up trouble, torment, torture, trouble, try, tweak, twist, vex, weaken, work up, worry, worsen, wound, wring