irritating

adjective

ir·​ri·​tat·​ing ˈir-ə-ˌtā-tiŋ 

: causing displeasure, anger, or annoyance

an irritating noise/habit

I felt more and more angry. There was something very irritating and aggressive in Summerlee's demeanour.

—Arthur Conan Doyle

irritatingly

ˈir-ə-ˌtā-tiŋ-lē 

adverb

The computer was irritatingly slow.

Synonyms

• abrasive
• aggravating
• annoying
• bothersome
• carking
• chafing
• disturbing
• exasperating
• frustrating
• galling
• irksome
• maddening
• nettlesome
• nettling
• peeving
• pesky
• pestiferous
• pestilent
• pestilential
• pesty
• plaguey
• plaguy
• rankling
• rebarbative
• riling
• vexatious
• vexing

Examples of irritating in a Sentence

his particularly irritating habit of leaving his dirty clothes on the floor

this soap leaves a residue that might be a little irritating if you have sensitive skin

Recent Examples on the Web

Inspiring or irritating, empowering or exploitative, maternal or manipulative — with many shades of gray in between — female mentorship is a common dynamic in many of 2024’s most affecting stories. —Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024

Windows 11 is still an appalling tablet OS with a crippling lack of touch-friendly apps, and the stylus has an irritating input lag that makes scribbling on screen unsatisfactory. —Barry Collins, Forbes, 14 Dec. 2024

But the device is marred by a few irritating quirks: holes on top that allow grit in the water chamber, and an odd and counterintuitive lid that sometimes ends up backwards. —Matthew Korfhage, WIRED, 6 Dec. 2024

This digital friction has become so commonplace it’s become accepted as an irritating fact of digital life. —Sandy Carter, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1707, in the meaning defined above