irritating
/ˈɪə.ɹɪ.teɪ.tɪŋ/adjective, verb
irritating is spelled I-R-R-I-T-A-T-I-N-G: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, irritating means “Causing irritation, annoyance or pain” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in irritating?
| Letters | 10: I-R-R-I-T-A-T-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.1 times per million words; the 12,764th 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 irritating?
Irritating appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th 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 irritating?
- /ˈɪə.ɹɪ.teɪ.tɪŋ/
Irritating has 4 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-irritating.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of irritating
- more irritating comparative
- most irritating superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does irritating mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Causing irritation, annoyance or pain.
irritating bureaucracy
- 2
Stimulating or exciting a response.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of irritate
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Irritating in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense causing irritation, annoyance or pain:
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.