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Synonyms

irk

American  
[urk] / ɜrk /

verb (used with object)

  1. to irritate, annoy, or exasperate.

    It irked him to wait in line.
    Synonyms:
    tire, bother, fret, chafe
irk British  
/ ɜːk /

verb

  1. (tr) to irritate, vex, or annoy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of irk

1300–50; Middle English irken to grow tired, tire < Old Norse yrkja to work, cognate with Old English wyrcan; work

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He told the New York Times in 1999 that he was “irked” that many players did not know that it was the union that made their enormous salaries and benefits, arbitration and free agency possible.

From Los Angeles Times

After that, the advisers took a survey asking how offended they were—and they were more irked when the clients got a second opinion from AI than from a human adviser.

From The Wall Street Journal

Anna May had said her ba was irked about the picture.

From Literature

But it was the removal of wartime leader Churchill that particularly irked politicians.

From BBC

These interventions can irk the grassroots, and there will be some carping over the Daines move.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.