MEANING
To annoy or irritate someone.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- irk someone
- increasingly irks
On the page
The casual certainty in his voice irked her.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- irk
- Past tense
- irked
- Past participle
- irked
- Present participle
- irking
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- irk
- Present continuous
- am/is/are irking
- Present perfect
- have/has irked
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been irking
- Past
- irked
- Past continuous
- was/were irking
- Past perfect
- had irked
- Past perfect continuous
- had been irking
- Future
- will irk
- Future continuous
- will be irking
- Future perfect
- will have irked
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been irking
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: irk; irks; irked; irked; irking Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description, character, dialogue. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: irks.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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