Irritainment
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Entertainment that annoys, embarrasses, or upsets more than or as much as it entertains, whether unintentionally or by design. uncountable
"Because their volume interjects such an overwhelming ambiance to the party, make sure that your entertainers are the right ones. You want entertainment, not irritainment."
- 2 A media spectacle, particularly a scandal, that is simultaneously irritating and engrossing. uncountable
"Like others, I followed Clinton's apologies on TV and in print and laughed at the "I'm Sorry Chorus" from the also-unclean GOP choir. I've said it before: This is "irritainment" - a macabre mix of irritation and entertainment. The nastiness is a crime scene right in front of us."
Example
More examples"Because their volume interjects such an overwhelming ambiance to the party, make sure that your entertainers are the right ones. You want entertainment, not irritainment."
Etymology
Blend of irritating + entertainment.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.