irked; irking; irks
: to make weary, irritated, or bored
1
: the fact of being annoying
2
: a source of annoyance
Synonyms
Examples of irk in a Sentence
Verb
Drivers were irked by the higher gasoline prices.
It irks me to have to clean up after you.
Noun
one of the prof's major irks is a cell phone that rings during a lecture
Recent Examples on the Web
Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 20 May 2024
Crows are smart enough to have noted an absence, and irked enough to regret the empty compost bins.
—Daniel Foster, National Review, 16 May 2024
But claims that Beijing uses state subsidies to prop up its manufacturing sector, and then dumps the excess surplus overseas, are irking executives in China’s car sector.
—Nicholas Gordon, Fortune Asia, 14 May 2024
While the cacophony of kids running amok might irk some who want to serenely sip their suds, a handful of Orange County breweries, known for their family-friendly environment as much as their award-winning craft beer, welcome the patter of little feet.
—Brock Keeling, Orange County Register, 8 May 2024
By Sean Gregory May 2, 2024 1:54 PM EDT
Perhaps the ad, which has run on an endless loop since the start of March Madness, just irks you.
—Sean Gregory, TIME, 2 May 2024
His opposition irked Redstone, who also had questioned some of Bakish’s business decisions, including not selling cable network Showtime, according to people familiar with the situation.
—Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2024
Odle said he was irked that the other intersections along State Road 37, where large car dealerships and a Walmart are located, were finished promptly but 141st Street, with a string of mom-and-pop businesses, had to wait.
—John Tuohy, The Indianapolis Star, 24 Apr. 2024
Vergennes has seen it all, and when Franklin settles with the British in a duplicitous last diplomatic pirouette, he is irked but not unduly.
—Roger Cohen, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2024
Washington Post, 22 Apr. 2022
The Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson varieties seem to sit somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of immunological irk.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 1 Dec. 2021
From that slight irk, a fuse is now irrevocably lit.
—Hank Stuever, Washington Post, 13 June 2019
But under the direction of Susannah Martin, those devices more irk than stoke fear.
—Lily Janiak, SFChronicle.com, 25 June 2018
Verb
All of it bugged Wolves coach Chris Finch, but the latter irked him most of all.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 20 May 2024
Crows are smart enough to have noted an absence, and irked enough to regret the empty compost bins.
—Daniel Foster, National Review, 16 May 2024
But claims that Beijing uses state subsidies to prop up its manufacturing sector, and then dumps the excess surplus overseas, are irking executives in China’s car sector.
—Nicholas Gordon, Fortune Asia, 14 May 2024
While the cacophony of kids running amok might irk some who want to serenely sip their suds, a handful of Orange County breweries, known for their family-friendly environment as much as their award-winning craft beer, welcome the patter of little feet.
—Brock Keeling, Orange County Register, 8 May 2024
By Sean Gregory May 2, 2024 1:54 PM EDT
Perhaps the ad, which has run on an endless loop since the start of March Madness, just irks you.
—Sean Gregory, TIME, 2 May 2024
His opposition irked Redstone, who also had questioned some of Bakish’s business decisions, including not selling cable network Showtime, according to people familiar with the situation.
—Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2024
Odle said he was irked that the other intersections along State Road 37, where large car dealerships and a Walmart are located, were finished promptly but 141st Street, with a string of mom-and-pop businesses, had to wait.
—John Tuohy, The Indianapolis Star, 24 Apr. 2024
Vergennes has seen it all, and when Franklin settles with the British in a duplicitous last diplomatic pirouette, he is irked but not unduly.
—Roger Cohen, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2024
Noun
The violence gets worse from there, and somehow all that is supposed to fit into a show about a Washington socialite whose biggest irk in the premiere is her rivalry with the first lady.
—Washington Post, 22 Apr. 2022
The Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson varieties seem to sit somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of immunological irk.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 1 Dec. 2021
From that slight irk, a fuse is now irrevocably lit.
—Hank Stuever, Washington Post, 13 June 2019
But under the direction of Susannah Martin, those devices more irk than stoke fear.
—Lily Janiak, SFChronicle.com, 25 June 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'irk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near irk
Cite this Entry
“Irk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irk. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
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