Word.ws English Dictionary

getting someone's Irish up

getting someone's Irish up is the present participle and gerund of get someone's Irish up.

Meaning of get someone's Irish up

Verb

get someone's Irish up (third-person singular simple present gets someone's Irish up, present participle getting someone's Irish up, simple past got someone's Irish up, past participle (UK) got someone's Irish up or (US) gotten someone's Irish up)

  1. (potentially offensive) To anger or annoy someone.
    • "It's so crazy I've got to believe they're either paranoid or trying to get his Irish up so he will run [and split the anti-Carter vote in the primaries]. My guess is it's paranoia."1979, David Garth, New York Magazine, page 14

Questions about getting someone's Irish up

What is getting someone's Irish up the present participle and gerund of?
Getting someone's Irish up is the present participle and gerund of get someone's Irish up.

Words near getting someone's Irish up in the dictionary

  1. getting someone's back
  2. getting someone's back up
  3. getting someone's dander up
  4. getting someone's drift
  5. getting someone's goat
  6. getting someone's Irish up
  7. getting someone's nanny
  8. getting someone's nanny-goat
  9. getting someone's number
  10. getting someone's shirt out
  11. getting something over with

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: getting someone's Irish up (page history and authors); get someone's Irish up (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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