Meaning & use
ire
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Meaning
noununcountable
Fierce, openly shown anger, usually aimed at someone or something that has caused offense.
Grammar: Uncountable and rarely takes an article: he drew her ire, not an ire.
Patterns
- the ire of someone
- draw someone's ire
- ire at something
The mayor's decision drew the ire of local shopkeepers.
She felt her ire rising as the clerk shrugged at her complaint.
The referee's mistake provoked the ire of thousands of fans.
Common combinations
- draw the ire of
- The new parking fees drew the ire of commuters.
- provoke ire
- His careless remarks provoked ire across the department.
- incur someone's ire
- She incurred her father's ire by crashing the car.
- raise ire
- The proposal raised ire among teachers.
- vent your ire
- He vented his ire in a long letter to the editor.
Synonyms and how they differ
- anger
- Anger is the neutral everyday word, while ire sounds more dramatic and is most often found in writing and news.
- wrath
- Wrath suggests an even grander, often punishing fury, whereas ire is usually somewhat milder.
- rage
- Rage describes wild, uncontrolled anger, while ire need not involve losing control.
- fury
- Fury stresses intensity and heat, whereas ire focuses on the anger being directed at a target.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: ire or ire?
ire vs ire
Ire is sometimes mistaken for 'Eire' (the Irish name for Ireland) because of the similar look, but the two are unrelated.
Practice
The airline's sudden cancellation of all weekend flights drew the ___ of travelers.
Choose one answer.
Ire means anger, and drawing the ire of a group is a standard phrase. Irony, iron and ironing are different words that do not fit the context.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ire”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.