Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Easily irritated or annoyed.
- adjective Medicine Abnormally or excessively sensitive to a stimulus.
- adjective Capable of responding to a stimulus. Used of an organism.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Susceptible to mental irritation; liable to the excitement of anger or passion; irascible; petulant.
- Susceptible to physical irritation; capable of being stimulated to action by external agency; liable to contract, shrink, become inflamed, etc., when excited or stimulated: as, irritable nerves; an irritable wound.
- Specifically, in physiology and botany, possessing the property of irritability.
- Responding quickly to a stimulus; sensitive; impressible.
- Synonyms Passionate, etc. (see
irascible ); fretful, peevish.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Capable of being irritated.
- adjective Very susceptible of anger or passion; easily inflamed or exasperated.
- adjective (Physiol.) Endowed with irritability; susceptible of irritation; capable of being excited to action by the application of certain stimuli.
- adjective (Med.) Susceptible of irritation; unduly sensitive to irritants or stimuli. See
Irritation , n., 3.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Capable of being
irritated . - adjective Easily
exasperated orexcited . - adjective Responsive to
stimuli .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective capable of responding to stimuli
- adjective easily irritated or annoyed
- adjective abnormally sensitive to a stimulus
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The song had ceased from his lips; but Mary was irritable from a burnt hand and a grandchild whose stomach refused to digest properly diluted cows 'milk.
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Anne Crank: Diary of a Young Girl - increasingly irritable from the combination of cabin fever and puberty, Anne begins to write bitter rants against those who share the attic with her.
Archive 2007-02-01 kittenpie 2007
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Anne Crank: Diary of a Young Girl - increasingly irritable from the combination of cabin fever and puberty, Anne begins to write bitter rants against those who share the attic with her.
Games are Afoot, Part II - Play On! kittenpie 2007
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Yet people are quick to label irritable or angry people as “bad children” or “bad people.”
Black Pain Terrie M. Williams 2008
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Yet people are quick to label irritable or angry people as “bad children” or “bad people.”
Black Pain Terrie M. Williams 2008
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Yet people are quick to label irritable or angry people as “bad children” or “bad people.”
Black Pain Terrie M. Williams 2008
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Yet people are quick to label irritable or angry people as “bad children” or “bad people.”
Black Pain Terrie M. Williams 2008
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It buzzed in short, irritable circles before settling back to its feeding spot.
Dragonfly in Amber Gabaldon, Diana 1992
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The song had ceased from his lips; but Mary was irritable from a burnt hand and a grandchild whose stomach refused to digest properly diluted cows 'milk.
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French teacher, loving children, wanting in dignity, broken in English, irritable in disposition; a sensitive young stranger, fresh from home, charming in innocence, sad with thoughts of a dear mother; a poor, frightened kitten, are all objects for boys 'cruelty to gloat over.
Captain Mugford Our Salt and Fresh Water Tutors William Henry Giles Kingston 1847
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