annoy
“
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)
- transitive verb To cause slight irritation to (another) by troublesome, often repeated acts.
- transitive verb Archaic To harass or disturb by repeated attacks.
- 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.
Century Dictionary (7)
GNU Webster's 1913 (2)
WordNet (1)
Elsewhere on the web
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- 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
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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.
— 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
- âDid you just say something dirty?â — Run For The Money
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View all »Etymologies (5)
American Heritage Dictionary (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.
Century Dictionary (2)
GNU Webster's 1913 (2)
WordNet
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Pronunciations
/ (ə-noiˈ)/
ahd pronounces "annoy"
by
American Heritage Dictionary