as in fiery
easily irritated or annoyed
that irritable old man always yells at people to stay off of his lawn
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of irritable
By the end, Liverpool’s players seemed tired and Klopp was irritable, clearly in need of a rest.
—
Simon Hughes, The Athletic, 20 Jan. 2025
The trio’s sixth record is charmingly irritable in both of its moods: hopped up on fluffy coffee while cracking baseball jokes, or dragging out downbeats and lamenting power structures to goad listeners with mounting anticipation.
—Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 2024
Coupled with erratic blood sugar levels – often caused by diets high in refined sugars and low in nutrients – these energy dips and spikes can leave you feeling irritable and drained.
—Lina Begdache, The Conversation, 7 Jan. 2025
This can contribute to symptoms such as fatigue, muscle aches, and irritable mood.
—Rosanna Sutherby, Pharmd, Verywell Health, 3 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for irritable
Simon Hughes, The Athletic, 20 Jan. 2025
The trio’s sixth record is charmingly irritable in both of its moods: hopped up on fluffy coffee while cracking baseball jokes, or dragging out downbeats and lamenting power structures to goad listeners with mounting anticipation.
—Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 2024
Coupled with erratic blood sugar levels – often caused by diets high in refined sugars and low in nutrients – these energy dips and spikes can leave you feeling irritable and drained.
—Lina Begdache, The Conversation, 7 Jan. 2025
This can contribute to symptoms such as fatigue, muscle aches, and irritable mood.
—Rosanna Sutherby, Pharmd, Verywell Health, 3 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for irritable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irritable
Adjective
-
And a Delta plane flipped upside down in a fiery crash landing at a Toronto airport, injuring 21 people.—
Melissa Chan,
NBC News,
27 Feb. 2025
-
Watch Stewart’s fiery takedown of Musk’s DOGE in its entirety below.—
Jack Dunn,
Variety,
26 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Named Lija, the wary but winsome mutt — in fact played by the filmmaker’s own pet — is snappish and defensive when her wounds are first treated, only to slowly relent and relax in the face of genuine tenderness.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
6 Feb. 2025
-
The film’s co-star, Diane Kruger, plays several roles, notably Karsh’s late wife (seen in flashback) and her snappish veterinarian-turned-dog-groomer sister.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
20 May 2024
Adjective
-
These irascible fish live on the intertidal mudflats of Roebuck Bay in Broome, Western Australia.—
Cecilia Rodriguez,
Forbes,
24 Feb. 2025
-
Others, like his irascible Celebrity Jeopardy standout Sean Connery, are the uncanny product of masterful tinkering, with Hammond eventually stretching the real and the perceived into a shape as recognizable as the actual figure himself.—
Dennis Perkins,
EW.com,
16 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Rojas’s recollections weren’t peevish—fine work was produced under these conditions.—
Ian Parker,
The New Yorker,
20 Jan. 2025
-
The songs are muscular and syncretic as ever, but the normally peevish rapper doesn’t maintain his trolling energy for the full record, settling into a questioning and pensive pace.—
Stephen Kearse,
TIME,
8 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
The best picture-winning boxing drama paired up-and-coming boxer Maggie (Hilary Swank) with grumpy reluctant coach Frankie (Clint Eastwood).—
Brian Truitt,
USA TODAY,
28 Feb. 2025
-
The pair meet after the guy picks up a prescription for an extremely gnarly black eye, setting off a whirlwind romance that’s inevitably disrupted by — what else? — a grumpy parent.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The only people who can help Sara and Devin are Isaac (Taylor Kitsch), a grouchy mountain man, and Two Moons (Shawnee Pourier), a mute Shoshone girl fleeing her own violent past.—
Daniel Fienberg,
The Hollywood Reporter,
9 Jan. 2025
-
The fans who booed last week at Gillette Stadium seemed more grouchy than outraged.—
Steve Buckley,
The Athletic,
2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
While Harvey and Mike were the beating heart (and Jessica, the fearsome lioness) of Suits, the show’s ensemble formed its strong backbone: Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), Harvey’s petulant, heart-on-his-sleeve frenemy, became the kind of character audiences loved to hate, or even grew to love.—
Max Gao,
The Hollywood Reporter,
21 Feb. 2025
-
His king is self-satisfied and perfectly petulant, dispatching orders, and often men’s lives, with gleaming disdain.—
David Benedict,
Variety,
18 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Take the Lishman’s Deli sketch, in which Murphy’s Gumby character — the green clay stop-motion figure reimagined as a crabby Borscht Belt has-been — trades insults with a gang of alter kockers played by Crystal, Guest and Short, who reminisce and argue about sandwiches named for celebrities.—
James Poniewozik,
New York Times,
8 Feb. 2025
-
California’s crabby conundrum Dungeness crabs are plucked from the Pacific to use for sushi rolls, salads and their namesake cakes.—
Ryan Fonseca,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Irritable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irritable. Accessed 9 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share