Meaning & use
irritatingly
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Meanings
adverb
In a way that makes someone feel annoyed or impatient.
Grammar: Usually placed before an adjective or another adverb, or at the start of a sentence.
Patterns
- irritatingly + adjective
- irritatingly + adverb
- irritatingly, + clause
He was irritatingly slow to answer even simple questions.
Irritatingly, the computer crashed just before I saved the file.
She spoke irritatingly loudly on her phone in the quiet carriage.
adverbmedical
In a manner that causes mild physical discomfort or itching.
Grammar: Used mainly in medical or descriptive contexts about skin or eyes.
Patterns
- irritatingly + adjective
The rash spread irritatingly across his arms.
The dust made her eyes irritatingly itchy.
Common combinations
- irritatingly slow
- The internet connection was irritatingly slow all afternoon.
- irritatingly vague
- His instructions were irritatingly vague, so we wasted time.
- irritatingly persistent
- The salesman was irritatingly persistent and would not take no for an answer.
- irritatingly simple
- The solution turned out to be irritatingly simple.
Synonyms and how they differ
- annoyingly
- Very close in meaning; 'annoyingly' is slightly more common in everyday speech and often interchangeable.
- maddeningly
- Stronger than 'irritatingly'; it suggests making someone extremely angry or frustrated.
Opposites
Word family
- irritate verb
- To make someone feel annoyed or impatient.
- irritating adjective
- Causing annoyance or impatience.
- irritation noun
- The feeling of being annoyed, or something that annoys.
Commonly confused: irritatingly or irritatedly?
irritatingly vs irritatedly
This means 'in an annoyed way' (showing irritation), while 'irritatingly' means 'in a way that causes irritation'.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'irritatingly' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Irritatingly' modifies the adjective 'late' to mean the lateness was annoying. In option A, 'waited irritatingly' would mean she waited in an annoying way, which is odd; 'irritatedly' would fit better there.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “irritatingly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.