Irritating

How to spell irritating

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce irritating

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does irritating mean?

1. adjectiveCausing annoyance, impatience, or mild anger.
2. adjectiveCausing soreness, redness, or inflammation of the skin or body.

Irritating in a sentence

• The constant drip from the tap was deeply irritating at night.

• The harsh soap was irritating to her sensitive skin.

• He had an irritating habit of interrupting every meeting.

• The cleaning fumes were irritating to the eyes and throat.

Where does irritating come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb irritare, meaning 'to provoke, excite, or enrage', which gave the English verb 'irritate' in the sixteenth century. The present participle 'irritating' then settled into use both as a verb form and as an adjective describing anything that causes annoyance or, in a more physical sense, inflammation. The medical meaning is actually the older flavour: doctors used 'irritate' to describe a part of the body being stimulated or inflamed long before the word became a general term for everyday annoyance. The spelling trap lives in the opening syllables, where a single 'i' is followed by a doubled 'r' but only a single 't', so the careful speller must remember 'irr' then 'it'. Many adults write only one 'r' or accidentally double the 't', so picturing the root 'irritate' before adding '-ing' is the safest guard.

How the word is built

• irrit- (from Latin irritare: to provoke, excite)
• -at(e) (verb-forming)
• -ing (present participle / adjective)