# irritation

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˌɪɹ.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/ · frequency rank #16,736

## Definitions
1. The act of irritating or annoying.
2. The state of being irritated.
3. A thing or person that annoys.
4. A state of inflammation or of painful reaction to cell or tissue damage.
5. A condition of morbid excitability or oversensitiveness of an organ or part of the body; a state in which the application of ordinary stimuli produces pain or excessive or vitiated action.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French irritation, from Latin irrītātiō, from irrītāre (“to excite”).

## Easily confused with
- **imitation** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/imitation-vs-irritation)
- **invitation** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/invitation-vs-irritation)
- **irrigation** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/irrigation-vs-irritation)
- **irritating** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/irritating-vs-irritation)

## Common misspellings (13)
`irirtation`, `iritation`, `irriattion`, `irritaiton`, `irritasion`, `irritatino`, `irritationn`, `irritatoin`, `irritattion`, `irrittaion`, `irrittation`, `irrtiation`, `riritation`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/irritation