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irritare

to irritate

verb eer-ree-TAH-reh Rare
Mind & Emotions Emotions

Origin: From Latin irritare (to provoke, to excite).

Also means

to annoy

Usage Note

Irritare covers both physical irritation (irritare la pelle = to irritate the skin) and emotional annoyance. The reflexive irritarsi means 'to get irritated/annoyed' and takes essere as auxiliary. The adjective irritante (irritating) works for both senses; irritato describes both inflamed skin and an annoyed person.

Examples

"Il fumo mi irrita gli occhi."

Natural Translation

Smoke irritates my eyes.

Literal Translation

The smoke to-me irritates the eyes.

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