Synonyms of irritate
92 similar words · 3 opposite words
Another word for irritate is bother. Other synonyms of irritate are devil, trouble, hassle, provoke and annoy. The opposite of irritate is please.
Synonyms and similar words for irritate
verbTo provoke impatience, anger, or displeasure in.
- provokeTo cause someone to become annoyed or angry.
- rileTo stir or move from a state of calm or order.
- aggravateTo exasperate; to provoke or irritate.
- annoyTo disturb or irritate, especially by continued or repeated acts; to bother with unpleasant deeds.
- nettleTo pique, irritate, vex or provoke.
- rankleTo cause irritation, bitterness or acrimony.
- ruffle
- sting
- burn someone's assTo irritate, bother, grind one's gears.
- antagonizeTo work against; to oppose (especially to incite a reaction).
- botherTo annoy, to disturb, to irritate; to be troublesome to, to make trouble for.
- disgruntleTo make discontent or cross; to put in a bad temper.
- botherateTo bother.
- bug
- get
- grateTo get on one's nerves; to irritate, annoy.
- burn upTo anger; to annoy.
- bedevilTo harass or cause trouble for; to plague.
- acerbate formalTo exasperate; to irritate.
- cheese off slangTo annoy.
- devilTo annoy or bother.
- exasperateTo tax the patience of; irk, frustrate, vex, provoke, annoy; to make angry.
- frustrateTo cause stress or annoyance.
- get up
- grotchTo annoy; to irritate.
- hack off
- hassleTo trouble, to bother, to annoy.
- irkTo irritate; annoy; bother.
- jazz
- molestTo annoy, trouble, or afflict.
- mommick US, dialectalTo harass or bother (someone or something).
- narkTo annoy or irritate.
- pee off slangSynonym of piss off (all senses).
- peeveTo annoy; vex.
- peeve offSynonym of annoy or piss off.
- persecute
- piqueTo wound the pride of (someone); to excite to anger; to irritate, to offend.
- piss off vulgarTo annoy, anger.
- rile upTo rile; to aggravate.
- roilTo annoy; to make angry; to throw into discord.
- stormTo disturb or trouble (someone).
- test someone's patienceTo begin to frustrate someone.
- tick off Canada, USTo annoy, aggravate.
- troubleIn weaker sense: to bother or inconvenience.
- try one's patience
- vexTo annoy, irritate.
- wind upTo upset; to anger or distress.
- Idioms:
- boil someone's piss vulgarTo irritate someone very much; to make someone very annoyed.
- chap someone's hideTo annoy someone; get on someone's nerves.
- get on someone's nervesTo annoy or irritate someone; to bother someone.
- get on someone's tits vulgarTo annoy or irritate.
- get on someone's wickTo annoy or upset someone, especially by repeated disagreeable actions.
- get someone's back upTo annoy or anger someone.
- get someone's dander upTo anger or annoy someone.
- get someone's goatTo annoy or infuriate someone.
- get someone's Irish upTo anger or annoy someone.
- get someone's nanny
- get someone's nanny-goat
- get under one's goat
- get under someone's skinTo irritate someone.
- give someone the shits Australia, colloquialTo annoy or frustrate someone to a great degree.
- grind one's gearsTo annoy or irritate one.
- harsh one's mellowTo spoil one's good mood or to annoy one.
- put someone's back upSynonym of get someone's back up: to annoy someone.
- raise someone's hacklesTo annoy or anger someone.
- rub someone the wrong wayTo cause someone irritation, discomfort or annoyance, often unintentionally, because of one's behavior, manner...
- rub up the wrong wayTo annoy or anger someone.
- ruffle someone's feathersTo unease, cause discomfort to someone.
- tee off slangTo irritate, vex, or annoy.
- torque off USTo annoy, distress, or anger.
- nerve rareTo get on (someone’s) nerves; to annoy, irritate, or bother (someone).
verbTo cause or induce displeasure or irritation.
verbTo induce pain in (all or part of a body or organism).
- afflictTo cause (someone) pain, suffering or distress.
- pangTo cause to have great pain or suffering; to torment, to torture.
- aggrieveTo cause someone to feel pain or sorrow to; to afflict.
- agonizeTo cause agony or anguish in someone.
- anguishTo cause to suffer pain.
- dere British, dialectalTo hurt; harm; injure; wound.
- excruciateTo inflict intense pain or mental distress on (someone); to torture.
- hurt
- pineTo inflict pain upon; to torment.
- rackTo cause (someone) to suffer pain.
- tormentTo cause severe suffering to (stronger than to vex but weaker than to torture.).
- tortureTo intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering on (someone), usually with the aim of forcing confessions or...
- wring figurativelyTo cause distress or pain to (a person or their heart, soul, etc.); to distress, to torment.
- ache literary, rareTo cause someone or something to suffer pain.
- throe obsoleteTo cause (someone) to feel throes, as if in childbirth; to put in agony.
verbTo render null and void.
Opposite of irritate
Meaning of irritate
- verb To provoke impatience, anger, or displeasure in.
- verb To cause or induce displeasure or irritation.
- verb To induce pain in (all or part of a body or organism).
irritate in other languages
Questions about synonyms of irritate
- What is another word for irritate?
- Irritate has 92 synonyms on Word.ws, such as bother, devil, trouble, hassle, provoke, annoy, pique and vex.
- What is the opposite of irritate?
- The opposite of irritate is please. Other antonyms of irritate are placate.
- What does irritate mean?
- Irritate means to provoke impatience, anger, or displeasure in.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: irritate (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Synonyms of irritate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/irritate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.