ANNOY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does annoy mean? 

• ANNOY (verb)
  The verb ANNOY has 1 sense:

1. cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

  Familiarity information: ANNOY used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ANNOY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they annoy    ... he / she / it annoys   
Past simple: annoyed   
Past participle: annoyed   
-ing form: annoying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

annoy; bother; chafe; devil; get at; get to; gravel; irritate; nark; nettle; rag; rile; vex

Context example:

It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves

Hypernyms (to "annoy" is one way to...):

displease (give displeasure to)

Verb group:

chafe (feel extreme irritation or anger)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "annoy"):

get; get under one's skin (irritate)

eat into; fret; grate; rankle (gnaw into; make resentful or angry)

peeve (cause to be annoyed, irritated, or resentful)

ruffle (trouble or vex)

fret (cause annoyance in)

beset; chevvy; chevy; chivvy; chivy; harass; harry; hassle; molest; plague; provoke (annoy continually or chronically)

antagonise; antagonize (provoke the hostility of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will annoy him
The performance is likely to annoy Sue

Derivation:

annoyance (the act of troubling or annoying someone)

annoyer (someone given to teasing (as by mocking or stirring curiosity))

 Context examples 

You can come up, and I am sorry if my precautions have annoyed you.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mercury retrograde can be annoying at times, but it has an upside, too.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Scientists have solved the riddle behind one of the most recognisable, and annoying, household sounds: the dripping tap.

(What causes the sound of a dripping tap – and how do you stop it?, University of Cambridge)

‘If it really annoys you, Hilton, we might go and travel, you and I, and so avoid this nuisance.’

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The person may be very tense and irritable, and become easily annoyed by small things.

(Agitation, NCI Dictionary)

A question about whether an individual becomes or became easily annoyed or irritable.

(Becoming Easily Annoyed or Irritable, NCI Thesaurus)

Their faces expressed a mixture of curiosity and anger, which annoyed and in some degree alarmed me.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

It was plain, therefore, that the attack would be developed from the north and that on the other three sides we were only to be annoyed by a show of hostilities.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“A most annoying business, Sherlock,” said he.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The Overactive Bladder Questionnaire Short Form (OAB-q Short Form) Made you frustrated or annoyed about the amount of time you spend in the restroom?

(OAB-q Short Form - Frustrated or Annoyed About the Amount of Time You Spend in the Restroom, NCI Thesaurus)