irk

/ɜːk/

//ɜːk// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"irk" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“irk” is uncommon English (frequency #60,888 among 2,140 “I” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,888
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - to irritate; annoy; bother

Corpus desk

Index EN-irk · irk · English

irk · rank #60,888 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,888
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH intrauterine

Nearest frequency peer: intrauterine (-3 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “irk”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “irk” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for irk
PropertyValue
Headwordirk
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ɜːk/
Letters3
Frequency rank#60,888
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “irk” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).irkfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “intrauterine” (#60,885), “jammy” (#60,891), “JCB” (#60,892). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “irk” is #60,888. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

irk is uncommon English at frequency #60,888 among 2,140 “I” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ɜːk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "to irritate; annoy; bother".

irk has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English irken (“to tire, grow weary”), from Old Norse yrkja (“to work”), from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to work”). Cognate with Icelandic yrkja (“to compose”), Swedish yrka (“to urge, argu… The correct English form is irk, spelled I-R-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    to irritate; annoy; bother

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how irk appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It irks me doing all this work and have someone wreck it.
  2. Let no man pray to Māna-Yood-Sushāī, for who shall trouble Māna with mortal woes or irk him with the sorrows of all the houses of Earth?

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English irken (“to tire, grow weary”), from Old Norse yrkja (“to work”), from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to work”). Cognate with Icelandic yrkja (“to compose”), Swedish yrka (“to urge, argue”), Old English wyrċan (“to work”). Doublet of work.

This word in other languages

fastidiar(Español)agacer(Français)ärgern(Deutsch)aborrecer(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "irk"?
"irk" is spelled I-R-K. The IPA pronunciation is /ɜːk/.
What does "irk" mean?
As a verb, "irk" means: to irritate; annoy; bother
How do you pronounce "irk"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "irk" is /ɜːk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "irk"?
Inherited from Middle English irken (“to tire, grow weary”), from Old Norse yrkja (“to work”), from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to work”). Cognate with Icelandic yrkja (“to compose”), Swedish yrka (“to ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "irk", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

JCB#60,892lig#60,929mog#60,967elt#60,789

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list