1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

annoys

verb

present tense third-person singular of annoy
as in bothers
to disturb the peace of mind of (someone) especially by repeated disagreeable acts deliberately annoyed the elderly neighbor by walking across his lawn

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of annoys That very same thing is what annoys Liz about Charles 500 years later. — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026 But Turner is a symbol for everything that annoys people about the Phillies. — Matt Gelb, New York Times, 19 July 2026 Another potential ingredient in whether a company annoys customers is its business model. — Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 7 July 2026 That's Clearly Too Heavy This isn't just something that annoys flight attendants, but a potentially hazardous task for crew members. — Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 3 July 2026 One of the more common ways bear encounters escalate is when an off-leash dog runs toward a bear, annoys it, and then comes sprinting back to its owner with an angry predator in pursuit. — Amber Harding Outkick, FOXNews.com, 16 June 2026 Seeing this much effort put into ripping off people annoys him. — Rob Pegoraro, PC Magazine, 1 June 2026 Just the idea of him annoys me. — ABC News, 26 May 2026 Still, what really annoys Daisy is that Ellie doesn’t seem to respect her rank. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 26 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for annoys
  1. bothers
  2. irritates
  3. bugs
  4. persecutes
  5. aggravates
Verb
  • What bothers Fairchild is the assumption behind it — that the dancers are voiceless and helpless.
    — Maddie Connors, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Having my mother in so much of the film [is what] bothers me.
    — Merle Ginsberg, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of bothers
Verb
  • Knowing that Madame Lalouette’s sales numbers are too high to fire her, Carla attempts to transfer Madame Morel to a different department — a move that irritates her superiors and highlights her weakness.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026
  • With contact dermatitis, a product like a soap or chemical irritates the skin or causes an allergic reaction, leading to symptoms like itching, discoloration, swelling, or even blisters.
    — Ayren Jackson-Cannady, Allure, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of irritates
Verb
  • Irwin is uncertain if the second infestation of bed bugs last weekend were ones that weren’t caught the first time, or if a person brought new bed bugs in.
    — Susan Bromley, Freep.com, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Not too much bugs him, but he sometimes is annoyed by his baby sister and doesn’t trust people who put pineapple on their pizza.
    — Pioneer Press, Twin Cities, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of bugs
Verb
  • China, which jails human rights activists in Hong Kong, persecutes Uyghurs, has killed hundreds of thousands of Tibetans and has committed genocide against the Falun Gong, is on the UN Human Rights Council.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026
  • In Russia, the civilian repressive apparatus persecutes the military, which leaps at every chance for revenge.
    — Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
Definition of persecutes
Verb
  • Social pressures intensify as the Aries moon aggravates Mars.
    — USA TODAY, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Regardless, the lure of short-form cricket aggravates the Test situation.
    — Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of aggravates

Browse Nearby Words

annoyingly
annoys
annual
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Annoys.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/annoys. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of elegiac

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All