annoy

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The French word ennui_, which now only means weariness of mind, signified formerly injury, and the vexation or hatred caused thereby; something like the English word "annoy," as in Shakespeare's Richard III., v.

View all »Definitions (13)

American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. transitive verb To cause slight irritation to (another) by troublesome, often repeated acts.
  2. transitive verb Archaic To harass or disturb by repeated attacks.
  3. Syntax Note
    Synonyms: annoy, irritate, bother, irk, vex, provoke, aggravate, peeve, rile
    These verbs mean to disturb or trouble a person, evoking moderate anger. Annoy refers to mild disturbance caused by an act that tries one's patience: The sound of the printer annoyed me.
    Irritate is somewhat stronger: I was irritated by their constant interruptions.
    Bother implies imposition: In the end, his complaining just bothered the supervisor.
    Irk connotes a wearisome quality: The city council's inactivity irked the community.
    Vex applies to an act capable of arousing anger or perplexity: Hecklers in the crowd vexed the speaker.
    Provoke implies strong and often deliberate incitement to anger: His behavior provoked me to reprimand the whole team.
    Aggravate is a less formal equivalent: "Threats only served to aggravate people in such cases” (William Makepeace Thackeray).
    Peeve, also somewhat informal, suggests a querulous, resentful response to a mild disturbance: Your flippant answers peeved me.
    To rile is to upset and to stir up: It riled me to have to listen to such lies.

View all » Examples

  • Almost all were just crooked enough on the redacted pages to annoy, and E.E. was a pathologically neat person. —  The Sum of all Fears
  • The French word ennui_, which now only means weariness of mind, signified formerly injury, and the vexation or hatred caused thereby; something like the English word "annoy," as in Shakespeare's Richard III., v. —  Sganarelle, or, the Self-Deceived Husband
  • The French word _ennui_, which now only means weariness of mind, signified formerly injury, and the vexation or hatred caused thereby; something like the English word "annoy," as in Shakespeare's Richard III., v. 3: —  Sganarelle, or, the Self-Deceived Husband
  • Felicitous annoy, as bitter-sweet —  Robert Browning
  • “Did you just say something dirty?” —  Run For The Money
 

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Annoy has been looked up 638 times, favorited 0 times, listed twice, commented on once, and has a Scrabble score of 8.

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View all »Etymologies (5)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English anoien, from Old French anoier, ennuyer, from Vulgar Latin *inodiāre, to make odious, from Latin in odio, odious : in, in; see in-2 + odiō, ablative of odium, hatred; see od- in Indo-European roots.

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Pronunciations

/ (ə-noiˈ)/
ahd pronounces "annoy"
by American Heritage Dictionary

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