irritation

Borrowed from Middle French irritation, from Latin irrītātiō, from irrītāre (“to excite”).

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪɹɪˈteɪʃən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

irritation (countable and uncountable, plural irritations)

1. The act of irritating or annoying.

   What irritation causes you to be so moody?

2. The state of being irritated.
   • 1972 October 13, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.1 Analysis”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Alaska Airlines, Inc., Boeing 727, N2969G, Near Juneau, Alaska, September 4, 1971‎, archived from the original on 31 August 2024, page 31:

     It has already been established that the crew was competent and qualified for operation of AS66. With the exception of some overtones of irritation about the manner in which another aircraft, N799Y, affected the flight's progress into the Juneau area, the recorded cockpit conversation, in general, reflects a relaxed but businesslike atmosphere.

   • 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 2, page 172:

     Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.

3. A thing or person that annoys.

   Synonym: pain in the neck

4. (physiology) A state of inflammation or of painful reaction to cell or tissue damage.
5. A condition of morbid excitability or oversensitiveness of an organ or part of the body; a state in which the application of ordinary stimuli produces pain or excessive or vitiated action.
   • 1975, Richard I. Feinbloom, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Child Health Encyclopedia: The Complete Guide for Parents:

     Hip pain is a common complaint in children and may indicate a very mild irritation in the hip joint or may be the symptom of a very severe abnormality

• irritable
• irritate

irritation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• “irritation”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “irritation”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

From Latin irrītātiōnem.

• IPA^(key): /i.ʁi.ta.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔ̃
• Homophone: irritations

irritation f (plural irritations)

1. irritation (all senses)

• irriter

• “irritation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.