irritate meaning

irritate means to make someone feel annoyed or bothered.

irritate :

annoy, bother

Verb

▪ The loud noise irritates me.

▪ The loud noise annoys me.

▪ His constant talking irritates everyone.

▪ His constant talking annoys everyone.

paraphrasing

▪ annoy – irritate

▪ bother – irritate

▪ perturb – irritate

▪ tease – irritate

irritate

Pronunciation

irritate [ˈɪr.ɪ.teɪt]

The stress is on the first syllable 'ir' and sounds like 'IR-ih-teyt'.

Common phrases and grammar about irritate

irritate - Common meaning

Verb
annoy, bother

Part of Speech Changes for "irritate"

▪ irritation (noun) – annoyance or frustration

▪ irritable (adjective) – easily annoyed

▪ irritated (adjective) – feeling annoyed

▪ irritably (adverb) – in an easily annoyed way

Common Expressions with "irritate"

▪ irritate someone – make someone annoyed

▪ be irritated by something – be annoyed by something

▪ irritate the public – annoy the public

▪ easily irritate – become annoyed easily

Important examples of irritate in TOEIC

Vocabulary examples from the TOEIC test

In TOEIC vocabulary questions, irritate is often used to describe actions that cause annoyance or discomfort.

▪The constant noise began to irritate the workers.
▪The constant noise began to annoy the workers.

Example of a confusing word: agitate (to disturb or stir up)

▪The constant noise began to agitate the workers.
▪The constant noise began to disturb the workers.
"Irritate" means "to cause annoyance or discomfort," and it is used correctly in the sentence "The constant noise began to irritate the workers." It conveys the idea of causing mild anger or discomfort. "Agitate," however, means "to disturb" or "to stir up," often implying a more intense or physical disturbance. While "agitate" shares a semantic connection with "irritate," it is not the best fit for expressing mere annoyance. Therefore, "irritate" is the correct choice for this context.

Grammar examples from the TOEIC test

Irritate is typically used as a transitive verb, requiring an object in TOEIC grammar questions.

▪The fluorescent lights irritate me.
▪The fluorescent lights annoy me.

irritate

Idioms and fixed expressions in TOEIC

environmental irritants

factors that cause annoyance, used in TOEIC Part 7 passages.

▪Air pollution is a major environmental irritant.
▪Air pollution is a major factor that causes annoyance.

rub someone the wrong way

means to irritate someone, used in informal TOEIC passages.

▪His comments really rubbed me the wrong way.
▪His comments really irritated me.

Differences between similar words and irritate

irritate

,

annoy

differences

irritate is used to make someone feel annoyed or bothered, often by repeated actions, while annoy can refer to a broader range of irritating behaviors.

irritate
▪The loud music irritates me.
▪The loud music annoys me.
annoy
▪The loud music annoys me because it's too loud.
▪The loud music irritates me because it's too loud.

irritate

,

bother

differences

irritate specifically refers to causing annoyance, often through repeated or sustained actions, while bother can also imply minor inconvenience or disturbance.

irritate
▪Her constant questions irritate her teacher.
▪His constant questions irritate him.
bother
▪His constant questions bother him.
▪His constant questions irritate him.

Words with the same origin as irritate

The origin of irritate

The word 'irritate' comes from the Latin 'irritare', which means 'to excite' or 'to provoke'.

Word structure

The analysis of the word's composition is unclear.

Words with the same origin

The word's root is 'irrit', but it is unclear or difficult to confirm influential words with the same root.

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