IrritableQuick to become annoyed or upset by small things. is used for someone who gets annoyed easily. It can also describe something in the body that reactsResponds or acts in reply to something that happens. too strongly to a stimulusSomething that causes a response or change in the body..
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-16. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Pronunciation
AI-generated pronunciation audio (OpenAI).
Accent: General American English
IPA: /ˈɪrɪtəbəl/
Easy pronunciation: IR-ri-tuh-buhl (approximate spelling).
Stress: Stress is on the first syllable: IR.
Use the adjective sense meaning easily irritated or annoyed.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: uncertain — manual review needed. Checked: 2026-10-16. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Irritable Meaning
getting upset or bothered very easily
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: easily irritated or annoyed
Example: He’s been irritable all morning because he didn’t sleep well.
Synonyms for this meaning:
- cranky — A common informal substitute for the annoyed sense.
- fractious — Works when someone is hard to please and quick to complain.
- peevish — A close match for someone annoyingly bad-tempered.
- petulant — Fits when the annoyance shows in childish sulking or snapping.
- scratchy — Used informally for a bad-tempered, easily annoyed person.
- techy — A dialectal or informal synonym for touchy and irritable.
- testy — A strong everyday synonym for someone quick to раздражение? no — quick to lose patience.
- tetchy — A very natural synonym, especially in British English.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: inaccurate — correction needed. Checked: 2026-10-16. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Other Meanings of Irritable
Meaning 2
able to react to a stimulus
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: capable of responding to stimuli
Example: These cells are irritable and respond quickly to touch.
Synonyms for this meaning:
- excitable — Works for tissue or cells that respond strongly, not for a person’s mood.
Meaning 3
overly sensitive to something that affects the body
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: abnormally sensitive to a stimulus
Example: The skin around the rash is irritable and sore.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: uncertain — manual review needed. Checked: 2026-10-16. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Irritable Synonyms
Similar Meaning
- cranky
- testy
- tetchy
- peevish
- petulant
capable of responding to stimuli
- excitable
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-16. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Common Mistakes
- Do not use irritable only for people; it can also describe tissues, nerves, or skin that react too strongly.
- Do not confuse irritable with peckish, which means hungry.
- Do not mix the emotional sense of irritable with the medical or biological senses.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-16. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does irritable mean?
Irritable means easily annoyed or quick to react badly. In science and medicine, it can also mean able to respond to a stimulus or unusually sensitive to one.
What is a good synonym for irritable?
Common synonyms for the person sense include cranky, testy, tetchy, peevish, and petulant.
Can irritable describe a body part or tissue?
Yes. It can describe skin, nerves, or cells that react too strongly or too easily to something.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-16. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.