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Glite Dictionary
😠 Annoying 🤧 Causing discomfort
irritating

irritating

4 3.1
Causing pain or discomfort to body parts like skin and eyes
  • adjective
  • /ˈɪrɪˌteɪtɪŋ/
translation icon : irritante
  • I wanted to add a little OxiClean, but it is irritating to my skin.

It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.

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Examples

  • The baby, Annie Ruth, had started a low, irritating whine for food.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Props to your GF, but where I live, tights can get irritating in the humid South.

    Blog text (22)

  • Also, just a warning, nutmeg can be irritating to your skin.

  • The warmth in which the sheet had wrapped her was now an irritating itchiness.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • A chemical stop-bath is not used because its fumes are too irritating to the respiratory system.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Diseases that cause high fevers or that are extremely irritating suppress the appetite.

    Academic text (1991)

  • It's about slowly building up and working your way up there and achieving that without irritation because prescription strength products can be irritating to the skin.

  • The spider's tiny hairs are very irritating, especially if they get in an animal's nose, eyes, or mouth.

  • A problem with Retin-A has been that it can be irritating to some skin.

  • If applied on dry skin, they are more likely to be irritating, says Mary Lupo, MD.

Synonyms

painful
vsirritating
737 1.0

Making someone feel physical hurt or strong emotional upset

focuses on bodily irritation sensations rather than broader pain or emotion
unpleasant
vsirritating
215 1.0

Not nice and causing discomfort or unhappiness

is specific to physical tissue irritation instead of general negative feeling
itchy
vsirritating
45 1.0

A feeling on the skin that makes you want to scratch

refers more broadly to physical tissue irritation not only scratchy feelings
offensive
vsirritating
15 5.3

Having a bad smell or taste that bothers you

relates specifically to bodily irritation rather than moral or sensory disgust
irritative
vsirritating
  • Specialized
8.1

Cause a sore or itchy feeling in body parts like the skin

is the common general term for causing bodily irritation
stinging
vsirritating
3.1

Causing a sharp, painful feeling on the skin

is broader covering general tissue irritation not only sharp painful sensations
excoriating
vsirritating
8.4

Making the skin sore and raw

describes milder tissue irritation rather than severe skin wearing or damage

Antonyms

soothing
81 2.9

That makes pain or worry feel less strong

calming
6 2.6

An action that makes someone less angry or upset

How Irritating

painful
737 1.0
stinging
3.1
itchy
45 1.0
irritating
4 3.1
uncomfortable
713 1.7

Surface Forms

irritating positive
irritatinger comparative
irritatingest superlative

Morphology

irritating = irritate (transparent) = irritate + ing

Derived from the verb 'irritate' with '-ing' indicating an ongoing or causative quality; the bodily-sensation sense is a regular sense of the verb and is inferable from it.

Etymology

Irritating also comes from the Latin irritare, where people used it for things that 'sting' or 'rub' the body. That's why irritating is used for substances or contact that make your skin or eyes 'feel sore or inflamed'.