as in irritableness
readiness to show annoyance or impatience
the librarian's well-known irritability makes students hesitant to ask questions
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 irritability
My irritability is definitely not in check.
—
Cara Lynn Shultz, PEOPLE, 9 Apr. 2026
But for over two decades, the OB-GYN and menopause advocate would dismiss women who came to her with sudden anxiety, fatigue, and irritability.
—Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 8 Apr. 2026
About 4 in 10 women experience mood symptoms including low energy, irritability and difficulty concentrating that, unlike PMS, can persist for years with no predictable pattern.
—Allison Palmer, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2026
About 4 in 10 women experience mood symptoms including low energy, irritability and difficulty concentrating that, unlike PMS, can occur for years with no predictable pattern.
—Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 1 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for irritability
Cara Lynn Shultz, PEOPLE, 9 Apr. 2026
But for over two decades, the OB-GYN and menopause advocate would dismiss women who came to her with sudden anxiety, fatigue, and irritability.
—Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 8 Apr. 2026
About 4 in 10 women experience mood symptoms including low energy, irritability and difficulty concentrating that, unlike PMS, can persist for years with no predictable pattern.
—Allison Palmer, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2026
About 4 in 10 women experience mood symptoms including low energy, irritability and difficulty concentrating that, unlike PMS, can occur for years with no predictable pattern.
—Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 1 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for irritability
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irritability
Noun
-
Minnesota is playing with aggression.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Throughout the regular season, Donte DiVincenzo was used to being the one who had to set the tone for Minnesota with his effort and aggression.—
Jace Frederick,
Twin Cities,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Some Trump-boosting podcasters and influencers cheered the FCC’s aggressiveness on Tuesday.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Not long into his second term, Bush sat uncomfortably as Stephen Colbert, then a Comedy Central host, hammered him with an aggressiveness unusual for the dinner.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But fights are just as integral to the Netflix show created by Lee Sung Jin, and the series’ sound team needed to do even more meticulous work building visceral senses of anger, stress, and dread that slowly swallow up the characters and steer them into making a compounding set of poor decisions.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
24 Apr. 2026
-
As Columbia, Rodriguez takes big, bold swings, shifting from manic exuberance to bruised vulnerability to feral anger over the course of the night.—
Dave Quinn,
PEOPLE,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Poor sleep leads to more than just crankiness A cranky kid after a bad night’s sleep is bad enough.—
Avery Newmark,
AJC.com,
10 Mar. 2026
-
And remember, most Californians are running on an hour less sleep today, so drive a little slower and blame your crankiness on the time change.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Bell, whose screen roles have long radiated decency and sensitivity, channels that guilelessness once more, only to expose it as yet another façade that helps Niall to conceal his darker impulses.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The wind, temperature changes, and even a light touch can trigger redness and sensitivity.—
Devon Abelman,
Allure,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Vince Gilligan moved to Apple and returned to his X-Files roots for the sci-fi horror dramatic comedy Pluribus, which used its ultra-mysterious and yet ultra-familiar genre trappings for a droll meditation on the eternal clash between collective joy and individual grouchiness.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
17 Nov. 2025
-
Emily is also struggling with Annabelle, who has inherited her mom’s attitude and the grouchiness of any adolescent forced to grow up with an Evolution Media camera crew in her home.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Trump’s petulance, meanness, and willingness to punish a religious institution for its Church’s moral witness is a warning to every faith community in America.—
Stephen Underwood,
Hartford Courant,
19 Apr. 2026
-
Sure, the Oscar-winning makeup helps transform the actor into Cheney, but the voice and petulance are all Bale, whose conjuring of this scoundrel ought to trigger PTSD for anyone who survived the Dubya years.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But the chancellor struggled to imagine how such an end of hostilities could be reached that would satisfy the White House.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The hostility to literature felt by some of the architects of the Red Scare is well established.—
Charlie Tyson,
The Atlantic,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Irritability.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irritability. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
