irritate
/ˈɪɹ.ɪˌteɪt/verb
irritate is spelled I-R-R-I-T-A-T-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,092nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, irritate means “To provoke impatience, anger, or displeasure in” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in irritate?
| Letters | 8: I-R-R-I-T-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 26,092nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is irritate?
Irritate appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,092nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce irritate?
- /ˈɪɹ.ɪˌteɪt/
Irritate has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-irritate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of irritate
- irritates present, singular, he/she/it
- irritating participle, present
- irritated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does irritate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To provoke impatience, anger, or displeasure in.
- 2
To cause or induce displeasure or irritation.
- 3
To induce pain in (all or part of a body or organism).
- 4
obsoleteTo render null and void.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Irritate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to cause or induce displeasure or irritation:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does irritate come from?
Borrowed from Latin irrītātus, perfect passive participle of irrītō (“excite, irritate, incite, stimulate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).