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irritable

61 synonyms and 3 antonyms for irritable, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Adjective — Easily annoyed or made angry; short-tempered.

Synonyms

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

atrabilious bad-tempered bilious brainish cantankerous carnaptious choleric crabbit crabby cranky crotchety dyspeptic edgy fantoddish fractious fretful grotchy grouchy hissy hot-livered hot-tempered hotheaded huffy humpy ill-natured irascible ill-tempered liverish out of sorts ornery (chiefly US)} peevish pettish petulant prickly quick-tempered querulous raspy ratty short-tempered snappish snappy snippety snippish snippy snitchy splenetic stressy surly temperamental testy tetchy tetty thin-skinned thorny touchy umbrageous twitchy waspish

Antonyms

How to use irritable

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

irritable mood irritable bowel syndrome feeling irritable

Etymology

Borrowed from French irritable, from Latin irritabilis.

Full origin of irritable →

Frequently asked questions

What does “irritable” mean?

The word “irritable” means easily annoyed or made angry; short-tempered. In plain terms, quick to get annoyed, or (in medical contexts) overly sensitive to stimulation.

How do you pronounce “irritable”?

“Irritable” is pronounced IH-rih-tuhbl (/ˈɪɹɪtəbl̩/ in IPA).

How do you use “irritable” in a sentence?

Here is “irritable” used in a sentence: “He gets irritable when he hasn't eaten.”

What is another word for “irritable”?

Words with a similar meaning to “irritable” include atrabilious, bad-tempered, bilious, brainish, cantankerous and carnaptious.

What is the opposite of “irritable”?

The opposite of “irritable” — its antonyms — are calm, imperturbable and serene.

What part of speech is “irritable”?

“Irritable” is an adjective.

Where does the word “irritable” come from?

The word “irritable” comes from Latin. Borrowed from French irritable, from Latin irritabilis.

How many meanings does “irritable” have?

“Irritable” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: easily annoyed or made angry; short-tempered.

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Nearby words

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Synonyms and antonyms from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.