| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| annoy |
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| SYLLABICATION: | an·noy |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   -noi |
| VERB: | Inflected forms: an·noyed, an·noy·ing, an·noys
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To cause slight irritation to (another) by troublesome, often repeated acts. 2. To harass or disturb by repeated attacks. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | To be annoying. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English anoien, from Old French anoier, ennuyer, from Vulgar Latin *inodi re, to make odious, from Latin in odio, odious : in, in; see in–2 + odi , ablative of odium, hatred; see od- in Appendix I. | | SYNONYMS: | annoy, irritate, bother, irk, vex, provoke, aggravate, peeve, rile These verbs mean to disturb or trouble a person, evoking moderate anger. Annoy refers to mild disturbance caused by an act that tries one's patience: The sound of the printer annoyed me. Irritate is somewhat stronger: I was irritated by their constant interruptions. Bother implies imposition: In the end, his complaining just bothered the supervisor. Irk connotes a wearisome quality: The city council's inactivity irked the community. Vex applies to an act capable of arousing anger or perplexity: Hecklers in the crowd vexed the speaker. Provoke implies strong and often deliberate incitement to anger: His behavior provoked me to reprimand the whole team. Aggravate is a less formal equivalent: “Threats only served to aggravate people in such cases” (William Makepeace Thackeray). Peeve, also somewhat informal, suggests a querulous, resentful response to a mild disturbance: Your flippant answers peeved me. To rile is to upset and to stir up: It riled me to have to listen to such lies.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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