Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- adj. Easily irritated or annoyed.
- adj. Pathology Abnormally sensitive to a stimulus.
- adj. Physiology Capable of responding to stimuli.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- adj. Capable of being irritated.
- adj. Easily exasperated or excited.
- adj. Responsive to stimuli.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- adj. Capable of being irritated.
- adj. Very susceptible of anger or passion; easily inflamed or exasperated.
- adj. Endowed with irritability; susceptible of irritation; capable of being excited to action by the application of certain stimuli.
- adj. Susceptible of irritation; unduly sensitive to irritants or stimuli. See Irritation, n., 3.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Susceptible to mental irritation; liable to the excitement of anger or passion; irascible; petulant.
- Susceptible to physical irritation; capable of being stimulated to action by external agency; liable to contract, shrink, become inflamed, etc., when excited or stimulated: as, irritable nerves; an irritable wound.
- Specifically, in physiology and botany, possessing the property of irritability.
- Responding quickly to a stimulus; sensitive; impressible.
- Synonyms Passionate, etc. (see irascible); fretful, peevish.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adj. capable of responding to stimuli
- adj. easily irritated or annoyed
- adj. abnormally sensitive to a stimulus
Etymologies
Examples
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Anne Crank: Diary of a Young Girl - increasingly irritable from the combination of cabin fever and puberty, Anne begins to write bitter rants against those who share the attic with her.
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Yet people are quick to label irritable or angry people as “bad children” or “bad people.”
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It buzzed in short, irritable circles before settling back to its feeding spot.
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The song had ceased from his lips; but Mary was irritable from a burnt hand and a grandchild whose stomach refused to digest properly diluted cows 'milk.
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French teacher, loving children, wanting in dignity, broken in English, irritable in disposition; a sensitive young stranger, fresh from home, charming in innocence, sad with thoughts of a dear mother; a poor, frightened kitten, are all objects for boys 'cruelty to gloat over.
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In popular use, the term dyspeptic still refers to an irritable and fragile psychological state.
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In children and adolescents, this may be characterized as an irritable mood.
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Our Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs project took a close look at which drugs work best, whether you have constipation on its own or as part of a condition called irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Best bet for long-term constipation is an over-the-counter drug
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Our Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs project took a close look at which drugs work best, whether you have constipation on its own or as part of a condition called irritable bowel syndrome IBS.
Best bet for long-term constipation is an over-the-counter drug
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And she's now developed a condition, sometimes called irritable bladder syndrome.
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