irked 1 of 2

irked

2 of 2

verb

past tense of irk

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 irked
Verb
The escalation has irked Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who warned on Thursday that his country could not be invaded. Nick Mordowanec john Feng, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025 For his part, over in Coventry, Wright was irked at being substituted after 79 minutes and not getting the chance to grab a hat-trick. Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2025 On the back of the continual tumult in American cricket, the low number of six teams per gender and qualification process has irked many cricket nations. Tristan Lavalette, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025 Apple iPhone 14 buyers were irked at the change, which can complicate connectivity. PC Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025 Recognizing a Palestinian state is a concession that may appease progressives irked by Carney’s other moves toward the political center. David Frum, The Atlantic, 14 Aug. 2025 The bill irked various GOP factions, from deficit hawks to economic populists. Eric Cortellessa, Time, 7 Aug. 2025 Bednarek, apparently irked by the sideways glance, responded by pushing Lyles in the back. Coy Wire, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irked
Adjective
  • His annoyed expression when your protagonist asks to use the phone will have some underlying reason behind it.
    JD Barker, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Until one day she was interrupted by an annoyed Philip Poole, the head coach of the Ascent.
    Emma Moon, Charlotte Observer, 29 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • In fact, the aliens take a back seat to the human interactions, which irritated some viewers eager to see actual aliens in a show about an extraterrestrial invasion.
    Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Despite his status as a pop culture icon for close to 50 years now, ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic has claimed he’s not terribly bothered about being overlooked by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
    Tyler Jenke, Billboard, 14 Aug. 2025
  • When taking a deeper look at what causes Americans to feel bothered about protesters waving Mexican flags, some clear patterns emerge.
    Loren Collingwood, The Conversation, 1 July 2025
Verb
  • His not winning it was considered a failure, and that bugged him.
    Brody Miller, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
  • The characters muse about the extreme likelihood that their apartments have been bugged.
    Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • There have been some instances, however, when an upset crayfish comes home from a hard day of crayfishing only to have to kick out a frog and cap the burrow.
    Karl Schneider, IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Meanwhile, for an AI that claims someone is going into something bad, but the AI has computationally misjudged the circumstance, users are bound to howl and get upset with the AI and the AI maker.
    Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • His deportation to El Salvador violated a 2019 court order that protected him from being deported to his home country because of concerns that he’d be persecuted by violent gangs.
    Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 25 Aug. 2025
  • Criminals are to be persecuted.
    Tommy Trenchard, NPR, 23 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • The boy’s father, an exasperated man at the mercy of an Amazon-like delivery job that docks him for every second he so much as thinks about his son, is the only person who even wants to go through the effort of looking for him.
    David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 7 Sep. 2025
  • An exasperated Sabalenka was quick to blow up in the press conference after the Centre Court defeat, claiming her opponent should have apologized for celebrating a winner too early.
    Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • One unbearable sequence has Chiang coming back angry in the middle of the day and suddenly raping Chuan in their bedroom.
    Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
  • In late July, centrist independent US Senator Angus King released a startlingly angry statement.
    Jack Sheehan September 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Irked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irked. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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