as in annoyed
subjected to and reacting with irritation
irked drivers were honking and shouting at the cows in the road
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in bothered
to disturb the peace of mind of (someone) especially by repeated disagreeable acts
she irked her friend by chewing her gum loudly during the movie
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of irked
Kansas City Star, 4 Mar. 2026
King in recent weeks had appeared irked by scrutiny being paid to CBS News, which has generated more attention since Weiss, an opinion journalist with little experience managing a mainstream media operation, joined last year.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 4 Mar. 2026
In one story, the king, Hiranyakashipu, ordered everyone in his kingdom to worship him and was irked when his own son Prahlad, a devotee of Lord Vishnu, disobeyed his command.
—ABC News, 3 Mar. 2026
The media company’s positioning has already irked some of its existing stars.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 23 Feb. 2026
Members of Neighbors Against Fear and Rush-hour Resistance Rallies who have protested at the ICE field office in Phoenix have irked some of the organizers with Borderlands Resource Initiative and People First Project.
—Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 10 Feb. 2026
Free-speech civil-society groups on the right and the left were irked by Kuhl’s decision.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 10 Feb. 2026
Emery had been irked, in particular, by a diagonal pass that went out of play for a throw-in.
—James Pearce, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Schools were closed for three days, which further irked Menino.
—Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 29 Jan. 2026
Verb
But what irked me the most was the shockingly sweet tomato sauce.
—Kansas City Star, 4 Mar. 2026
King in recent weeks had appeared irked by scrutiny being paid to CBS News, which has generated more attention since Weiss, an opinion journalist with little experience managing a mainstream media operation, joined last year.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 4 Mar. 2026
In one story, the king, Hiranyakashipu, ordered everyone in his kingdom to worship him and was irked when his own son Prahlad, a devotee of Lord Vishnu, disobeyed his command.
—ABC News, 3 Mar. 2026
The media company’s positioning has already irked some of its existing stars.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 23 Feb. 2026
Members of Neighbors Against Fear and Rush-hour Resistance Rallies who have protested at the ICE field office in Phoenix have irked some of the organizers with Borderlands Resource Initiative and People First Project.
—Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 10 Feb. 2026
Free-speech civil-society groups on the right and the left were irked by Kuhl’s decision.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 10 Feb. 2026
Emery had been irked, in particular, by a diagonal pass that went out of play for a throw-in.
—James Pearce, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Schools were closed for three days, which further irked Menino.
—Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 29 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irked
Adjective
-
Trump remains annoyed, and Starmer is bracing to see whether the president’s anger has an impact on trans-Atlantic ties and trade.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Messi quickly got up and didn’t appear to be injured, but was visibly annoyed.—
Ryan Brennan,
Kansas City Star,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The state party chairman responded that his letter was not aimed at any specific candidate, and that he was not bothered that most candidates did not heed his call to exit the race.—
Seema Mehta,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
-
The Neo is a product that was once unthinkable from a company that spent years panning the idea of netbooks and never bothered to make a budget laptop of its own.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
In addition, teens who are dealing with intense emotions that are hard to cope with are often hot-tempered and easily irritated.—
Staff Author,
Parents,
9 Mar. 2026
-
If Schaefer is irritated by a mistake made by his players, the suit jacket comes off.—
Danny Davis,
Austin American Statesman,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Underwood went on The Bachelor as a straight man, made a connection with Randolph, broke up with her, bugged her car, and then was hit with a restraining order.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Instead, Ladinig says Pierre Haobsh bugged Henry Han's computer with a spyware app called a keylogger.—
Natalie Morales,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The Frogs made enough big shots in the final minutes to prevent another upset.—
Blair Kerkhoff,
Kansas City Star,
7 Mar. 2026
-
However, other kids of the same age range might be more upset by the violence and harsh realities of nature—especially the ruthless and brutal of hierarchy of nature during the dinosaur years.—
Alex Shoemaker,
Parents,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Making up between 8% to 17% of the country’s total population, Iran’s Kurdish minority has long been persecuted under the Islamic Republic.—
John Calabrese,
The Conversation,
7 Mar. 2026
-
The mission said intelligence agencies routinely persecuted political adversaries, falsifying evidence to justify arrests and in some cases resorting to torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Sexton jogged back out to the perimeter to collect an exasperated pass from Giddey, who reset himself into downhill motion off the ball.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Mar. 2026
-
Now, Zelenskyy’s defiance of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion has taken on an increasingly exasperated, if not desperate, tone.—
Yuliya Talmazan,
NBC news,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Burkle alleges that Anderson stopped paying him in 2014 after becoming angry with him over an unspecified personal dispute, the complaint states.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Our tormentor is angry the state chose Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 and has not met his demands to stop mail-in voting and release his supporter and fellow election denier Tina Peters from prison.—
Krista Kafer,
Denver Post,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Irked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irked. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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