Library / English Dictionary

IRRITABLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Easily irritated or annoyed

Example:

not the least nettlesome of his countrymen

Synonyms:

cranky; fractious; irritable; nettlesome; peckish; peevish; pettish; petulant; scratchy; techy; testy; tetchy

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

ill-natured (having an irritable and unpleasant disposition)

Derivation:

irritability (a disposition to exhibit uncontrolled anger)

irritability (an irritable petulant feeling)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Capable of responding to stimuli

Synonyms:

excitable; irritable

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

sensitive (responsive to physical stimuli)

Domain category:

physiology (the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Abnormally sensitive to a stimulus

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

sensitive (responsive to physical stimuli)

Domain category:

pathology (the branch of medical science that studies the causes and nature and effects of diseases)

Derivation:

irritability (excessive sensitivity of an organ or body part)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Also called IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, irritable colon, and spastic colon.

(Mucus colitis, NCI Dictionary)

Alteration in the expression of this gene is associated with development of breast cancer and diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome.

(MIR510 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene is involved in the regulation of gene expression and plays a role in the development of breast carcinoma and diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome.

(MIR510 Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

I am sure, if I ever get home, that I shall never be irritable with them again.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Anemia can make you feel tired, cold, dizzy, and irritable.

(Anemia, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Dave and Sol-leks alone were unaltered, though they were made irritable by the unending squabbling.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Some further remark of Lord Roxton's about the danger only made me irritable.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Also called IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, mucus colitis, and spastic colon.

(Irritable colon, NCI Dictionary)

Also called irritable bowel syndrome, irritable colon, mucus colitis, and spastic colon.

(IBS, NCI Dictionary)

I am so worried in my mind that I am apt to be irritable.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)