Library / English Dictionary

ANNOY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

Example:

It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves

Synonyms:

annoy; bother; chafe; devil; get at; get to; gravel; irritate; nark; nettle; rag; rile; vex

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "annoy" is one way to...):

displease (give displeasure to)

Verb group:

chafe (feel extreme irritation or anger)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "annoy"):

get; get under one's skin (irritate)

eat into; fret; grate; rankle (gnaw into; make resentful or angry)

peeve (cause to be annoyed, irritated, or resentful)

ruffle (trouble or vex)

fret (cause annoyance in)

beset; chevvy; chevy; chivvy; chivy; harass; harry; hassle; molest; plague; provoke (annoy continually or chronically)

antagonise; antagonize (provoke the hostility of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will annoy him

The performance is likely to annoy Sue

Derivation:

annoyance (the act of troubling or annoying someone)

annoyer (someone given to teasing (as by mocking or stirring curiosity))

Credits

 Context examples: 

Although it can be annoying, coughing helps your body heal or protect itself.

(Cough, NIH)

Generalized Anxiety Disorder - 7 (GAD-7) Becoming easily annoyed or irritable.

(GAD-7 - Becoming Easily Annoyed or Irritable, NCI Thesaurus)

The Overactive Bladder Questionnaire (OAB-q) Made you frustrated or annoyed about the amount of time you spend in the restroom?

(OAB-q - Frustrated or Annoyed About the Amount of Time You Spend in the Restroom, NCI Thesaurus)

I had filled the first two with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He seemed more interested than annoyed at my outbreak.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If the flood annoyed him, so much the better.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

"I forgot that English people rather turn up their noses at governesses and don't treat them as we do," said Meg, looking after the retreating figure with an annoyed expression.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Steerforth continued his protection of me, and proved a very useful friend; since nobody dared to annoy one whom he honoured with his countenance.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

When Buck and Curly grew excited, half wild with fear, he raised his head as though annoyed, favored them with an incurious glance, yawned, and went to sleep again.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

It is very annoying, for I do not see how I am to shave, unless in my watch-case or the bottom of the shaving-pot, which is fortunately of metal.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)