Irritant

//ˈɪɹɪtənt// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any medication designed to cause irritation
  2. 2
    something that causes irritation and annoyance wordnet
  3. 3
    A source of irritation.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Causing irritation or inflammation. not-comparable
  2. 2
    Rendering null and void; conditionally invalidating. Scotland, not-comparable

    "The states elected Harry, Duke of Anjou, for their king, with this clause irritant; that, if he did violate any part of his oath, the people should owe him no allegiance."

Synonyms

All synonyms
annoyancebindbotherchafeexacerbationexasperation

Example

More examples

"“Police initially launched pepper balls, which contain powder with an irritant that disperses quickly, that were unsuccessful in reducing the crowd size,” university officials said in a statement."

Etymology

From French irritant, equivalent to irritate + -ant.

Related phrases

null and void

More for "irritant"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.