Definition of IRE

Examples of ire in a Sentence

He directed his ire at the coworkers who reported the incident.
the patronizing comment from the snooty waiter roused her ire

Recent Examples of ire from the Web

His outspokenness drew the ire of administration officials and earned him near-cult status among Trump's opponents.

— Alaska Dispatch News, "Federal ethics chief who clashed with White House resigns", 6 July 2017
Insurance premiums and deductibles have also risen under Obamacare, drawing the ire of many working-class Americans.

— allie gross, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan families say we still need Obamacare", 5 July 2017
President Trump drew ire once again for his tweeting and everyone is talking about it — even The Joker.

— ryan parker, The Hollywood Reporter, "Why Mark Hamill Reading Trump's 'Morning Joe' Tweets as The Joker Is Perfect", 30 June 2017
Exactly what set off Trump’s ire was not known — Trump didn’t say.

— brian bennett, idahostatesman, "Idaho’s Crapo among GOP critics of Trump’s attack on ‘Morning Joe’ hosts", 29 June 2017
Portugal's penalty taking deserves plenty of ire, too.

— alexander abnos, SI.com, "Chile reaches third straight major final after Claudio Bravo PK heroics vs. Portugal", 28 June 2017
The about face, coupled with another government decision to promote a bill that would enshrine the ultra-Orthodox monopoly over conversions, provoked the ire of liberal Jews.

— aron heller, Jewish Journal, "Ultra-Orthodox lawmaker: Reform Jews don't believe in Temple", 27 June 2017
This role would earn her the ire of Senate Democrats.

— kaila hale-stern, Cosmopolitan, "Who Is Rachel Brand? 5 Things to Know About the Associate Attorney General.", 20 June 2017
Another possible line of questioning could be the leaks about the investigation -- a frequent subject of Trump’s ire.

— steven t. dennis, Bloomberg.com, "Eight Senators to Watch at the Comey Hearing", 7 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ire'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ire

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin ira; perhaps akin to Greek oistros gadfly, frenzy

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First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

ire Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of ire

anger, ire, rage, fury, indignation, wrath mean an intense emotional state induced by displeasure. anger, the most general term, names the reaction but by itself does not convey cause or intensity. tried to hide his anger ire, more frequent in literary contexts, suggests an intense anger, often with an evident display of feeling. cheeks flushed with ire rage and fury suggest loss of self-control from violence of emotion. shook with rage could not contain his fury indignation stresses righteous anger at what one considers unfair, mean, or shameful. a comment that caused general indignation wrath is likely to suggest a desire or intent to punish or get revenge. I feared her wrath if I was discovered