- easily annoyed or provoked
- in an ill humor; bad-tempered; peevish
- Med. excessively or pathologically sensitive to a stimulus
- Physiol. able to respond to a stimulus
Origin of irritable
Classical Latin irritabilis from irritare, to irritate
Two irritable babies.
The definition of irritable is someone who is cranky, or who has the tendency to be grumpy and get mad easily.
A woman who is very pregnant, has raging hormones and gets really mad at everything all the time is an example of someone who would be described as irritable.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"irritable." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Irritable>.
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irritable. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Irritable
irritable
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"irritable." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Irritable>.
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irritable. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Irritable
irritable
adjective
- Easily irritated or annoyed.
- Medicine Abnormally or excessively sensitive to a stimulus: irritable bladder.
- Capable of responding to a stimulus. Used of an organism.
Origin of irritable
French irritable from Latin irrītābilis from irrītāre to irritateRelated Forms:
- ir′ri·ta·bil′i·ty ir′ri·ta·ble·ness
noun
- ir′ri·ta·bly
adverb
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"irritable." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Irritable>.
APA Style
irritable. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Irritable
Adjective
(comparative more irritable, superlative most irritable)
- Capable of being irritated.
- Easily exasperated or excited.
- Responsive to stimuli.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"irritable." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Irritable>.
APA Style
irritable. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Irritable
irritable - Medical Definition
adj.
- Easily irritated or annoyed.
- Medicine Abnormally or excessively sensitive to a stimulus: irritable bladder.
- Capable of responding to a stimulus. Used of an organism.
Related Forms:
- ir′ri·ta·bil′i·ty (-bĭl′ĭ-tē) ir′ri·ta·ble·ness
n.
- ir′ri·ta·bly
adv.
The American Heritage Dictionary of Medicine © 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"irritable." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 20 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Irritable>.
APA Style
irritable. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Irritable
Sentence Examples
- His temper was irritable, his habits penurious and solitary.
- She is never fretful or irritable, and I have never seen her impatient with her playmates because they failed to understand her.
- He could, never forgive Gustavus for having forestalled the revolution, and his morbidly irritable and suspicious temper saw slights and insults in the most innocent conjunctures.
- He grew still more irritable, and it was Princess Mary who generally bore the brunt of his frequent fits of unprovoked anger.
- In the cough of phthisis minute doses are of service, but in this particular disease morphine is frequently better replaced by codeine or by heroin, which checks irritable coughs without the narcotism following upon the administration of morphine.
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WORDS NEAR irritable IN THE DICTIONARY
- irritable
- irrisible
- irrision
- irritabilities