Dictionary

irritability en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌɪɹɪtəˈbɪlɪti/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Latin irritabilitās, equivalent to irritable + -ity.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The state or quality of being irritable; quick excitability.
   • irritability of temper
   • Blue No. 1 and yellow No. 6 may also be toxic to some human cells. And as little as 1 milligram of yellow dye No. 5 may cause irritability, restlessness and sleep disturbances for sensitive children. 2025 March 29, Kristen Rogers, “Over half of US states are trying to eliminate food dyes. Here’s what you can do now”, in CNN:
2. (countable, uncountable) 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.
   • We find a renitency in ourselves to ascribe life and irritability to the cold and motionless fibres of plants. 1800, Erasmus Darwin, Phytologia, Or the Philosophy of Agriculture and Gardening:
   • There is growth only in plants; but there is irritability, or, a better word, instinctivity, in insects. 1830 September 23, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Logic”, in H[enry] N[elson] C[oleridge], editor, Specimens of the Table Talk of the Late Samuel Taylor Coleridge. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], published 1835, →OCLC, page 111:
3. (countable, uncountable) A condition of morbid excitability of an organ or part of the body; undue susceptibility to the influence of stimuli.

Forms

Deriveds

hyperirritability · superirritability

Synonyms

fretfulness (state of being irritable) · petulance (state of being irritable)

Translations (32)

mk надразливост (state or quality of being irritable) · de Empfindlichkeit (state or quality of being irritable) · ga meirg (state or quality of being irritable) · tl pagkatalusaling (state or quality of being irritable) · kk тітіркенгіштік (state or quality of being irritable) · ga lasántacht (state or quality of being irritable) · ga greannaitheacht (state or quality of being irritable) · de Reizbarkeit (state or quality of being irritable) · pt irritabilidade (state or quality of being irritable) · ru раздражи́тельность (state or quality of being irritable) · fi ärsyyntyvyys (state or quality of being irritable) · ga colgaí (state or quality of being irritable) · ro iritabilitate (state or quality of being irritable) · es irritabilidad (state or quality of being irritable) · it irritabilità (state or quality of being irritable) · ga colg (state or quality of being irritable) · ca irritabilitat (state or quality of being irritable) · ga drisíneacht (state or quality of being irritable) · cmn 應激性 /应激性 (state or quality of being irritable) · eo iritiĝebleco (state or quality of being irritable) · nn irritabilitet (state or quality of being irritable) · ga frisnéiseacht (state or quality of being irritable) · fr irritabilité (state or quality of being irritable) · nb irritabilitet (state or quality of being irritable) · fi ärsytettävyys (state or quality of being irritable) · de Irritabilität (state or quality of being irritable) · mk раздразливост (state or quality of being irritable) · fi ärtyvyys (state or quality of being irritable) · ga gairge (state or quality of being irritable) · el ευερεθιστότητα (state or quality of being irritable) · id iritabilitas (state or quality of being irritable) · bg раздразнителност (state or quality of being irritable)