Standard Lemma guide

irk

name · noun · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɜːk/
  • General-American: /ɝk/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)k
  • CMU ARPABET: ER1 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A river in Greater Manchester, England, which joins the River Irwell in Manchester city centre.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An annoyance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

to irritate; annoy; bother

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • It irks me doing all this work and have someone wreck it.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

irritate or vex

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • It galls me that we lost the suit

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gall

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: anger

History

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English irken (“to tire, grow weary”), from Old Norse yrkja (“to work”), from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to work”). Cognate with Icelandic yrkja (“to compose”), Swedish yrka (“to urge, argue”), Old English wyrċan (“to work”). Doublet of work.

Across languages

Translations

30 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: безпокоя (bezpokoja) — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Bulgarian: смущавам (smuštavam) — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Bulgarian: досаждам (dosaždam) — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Cornish: veksya — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Czech: rozčilovat — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Czech: štvát — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Czech: dopalovat — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Finnish: ärsyttää — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • French: agacer — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • French: irriter — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • German: ärgern — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Hungarian: bosszant — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Italian: infastidire — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Italian: irritare — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Italian: seccare — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Latin: piget — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Latin: taedet — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Māori: hakirara — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Māori: whakahōhā — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Māori: whakakūrakuraku — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Māori: rangirangi — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Māori: whakatōwenewene — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Norwegian: irritere — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Norwegian: plage — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Polish: drażnić — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Portuguese: aborrecer — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Russian: раздража́ть (razdražátʹ) — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Spanish: fastidiar — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Spanish: molestar — to irritate; annoy; bother
  • Spanish: irritar — to irritate; annoy; bother