Standard Lemma guide

irritability

noun · 6 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.

  • /ˌɪɹɪtəˈbɪlɪti/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 R IH0 T AH0 B IH1 L AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state or quality of being irritable; quick excitability.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • irritability of temper

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A natural susceptibility, characteristic of all living organisms, tissues, and cells, to the influence of certain stimuli, response being manifested in a variety of ways.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: medicine, physiology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A condition of morbid excitability of an organ or part of the body; undue susceptibility to the influence of stimuli.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a disposition to exhibit uncontrolled anger

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • his temper was well known to all his employees

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: temper, biliousness, peevishness, pettishness, snappishness, surliness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ill nature

Narrower terms: querulousness

5

noun

Meaning 5

excessive sensitivity of an organ or body part

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: excitability

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: responsiveness, reactivity

6

noun

Meaning 6

an irritable petulant feeling

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: crossness, fretfulness, fussiness, peevishness, petulance, choler

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ill humor, ill humour, distemper

Narrower terms: testiness, touchiness, tetchiness, pet

History

Etymology

From Latin irritabilitās, equivalent to irritable + -ity.

Across languages

Translations

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: раздразнителност (razdraznitelnost) — state or quality of being irritable
  • Catalan: irritabilitat — state or quality of being irritable
  • Chinese Mandarin: 應激性 /应激性 (yìngjīxìng) — state or quality of being irritable
  • Esperanto: iritiĝebleco — state or quality of being irritable
  • French: irritabilité — state or quality of being irritable
  • German: Reizbarkeit — state or quality of being irritable
  • German: Empfindlichkeit — state or quality of being irritable
  • German: Irritabilität — state or quality of being irritable
  • Greek: ευερεθιστότητα (everethistótita) — state or quality of being irritable
  • Indonesian: iritabilitas — state or quality of being irritable
  • Irish: colgaí — state or quality of being irritable
  • Irish: drisíneacht — state or quality of being irritable
  • Irish: frisnéiseacht — state or quality of being irritable
  • Irish: gairge — state or quality of being irritable
  • Irish: greannaitheacht — state or quality of being irritable
  • Irish: lasántacht — state or quality of being irritable
  • Irish: meirg — state or quality of being irritable
  • Irish: colg — state or quality of being irritable
  • Italian: irritabilità — state or quality of being irritable
  • Kazakh: тітіркенгіштік (tıtırkeñıştık) — state or quality of being irritable
  • Macedonian: раздразливост (razdrazlivost) — state or quality of being irritable
  • Macedonian: надразливост (nadrazlivost) — state or quality of being irritable
  • Norwegian Bokmål: irritabilitet — state or quality of being irritable
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: irritabilitet — state or quality of being irritable
  • Portuguese: irritabilidade — state or quality of being irritable
  • Romanian: iritabilitate — state or quality of being irritable
  • Russian: раздражи́тельность (razdražítelʹnostʹ) — state or quality of being irritable
  • Spanish: irritabilidad — state or quality of being irritable
  • Tagalog: pagkatalusaling — state or quality of being irritable