annoy
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈnɔɪ/
rhymes: -ɔɪ
Forms: form: annoys
form: annoying
form: annoyed
form: annoyed
Etymology: From Middle English anoyen, from Old French anoier (“to bother, disturb”), from Late Latin inodiāre (“to make loathsome”), derived from Latin odium (“loathing, hatred”). Displaced native Old English dreċċan, gremman.
Senses: examples: text: Marc loved his sister, but when she annoyed him he wanted to switch her off.
text: Yet let me flap this bug with gilded wings, / This painted child of dirt that stinks and stings; / Whose buzz the witty and the fair annoys, / Yet wit ne'er tastes, and beauty ne'r enjoys.
ref: 1735, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot:
text: You Klaestrons are allies of the Cardassians; your knowledge of the station confirms that they must have given you the layouts. Which not only compromises Bajoran security, but also... annoys us.
ref: 1993, D.C. Fontana, Peter Allan Fields, “Dax”, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 1, episode 8, spoken by Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor):
text: In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%. That means about $165 billion was spent not on drumming up business, but on annoying people, creating landfill and cluttering spam filters.
ref: 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, page 74:
synonyms: bother
irritate
antonyms: please
glosses: To disturb or irritate, especially by continued or repeated acts; to bother with unpleasant deeds.
glosses: To do something to upset or anger someone; to be troublesome.
examples: text: to annoy an army by impeding its march, or by a cannonade
text: tapers put into lanterns or sconces of several-coloured, oiled paper, that the wind might not annoy them
ref: 1644 December 3 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 23 November 1644]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC:
text: Say, what can more our tortured souls annoy / Than to behold, admire, and lose our joy?
ref: 1691, Matthew Prior, Pastoral to Dr. Turner, Bishop of Ely:
synonyms: word: damage
word: wound
word: abuse
word: annoy
word: bewound
word: damage
word: damnify
word: dere
word: do damage to
word: do for
word: do ill
word: do violence to
word: forwork
word: grieve
word: harm
word: harrow
word: hurt
word: injure
word: maul
word: misdo
word: put someone in hospital
word: scaith
word: scathe
word: vulnerate
word: wet
word: wound
glosses: To molest; to harm; to injure.
Synonyms: word: aggravate
word: annoy
word: rankle
word: ruffle
word: sting
word: antagonize
word: bother
word: disgruntle
word: botherate
word: bug
word: get
word: grate
word: burn up
word: bedevil
word: cheese off
word: devil
word: exasperate
word: frustrate
word: get up
word: grotch
word: hack off
word: hassle
word: irk
word: irritate
word: jazz
word: molest
word: mommick
word: nark
word: nerve
word: pee off
word: peeve
word: persecute
word: pique
word: piss off
word: provoke
word: rile
word: rile up
word: roil
word: storm
word: test someone's patience
word: tick off
word: trouble
word: try one's patience
word: vex
word: wind up
word: Idioms:
word: boil someone's piss
word: chap someone's hide
word: get on someone's nerves
word: get on someone's tits
word: get on someone's wick
word: get someone's back up
word: get someone's dander up
word: get someone's goat
word: get someone's Irish up
word: get someone's nanny
word: get someone's nanny-goat
word: get under one's goat
word: get under someone's skin
word: give someone the shits
word: grind one's gears
word: harsh one's mellow
word: put someone's back up
word: raise someone's hackles
word: rub someone the wrong way
word: rub up the wrong way
word: ruffle someone's feathers
word: tee off
word: torque off
Hypernyms: word: affect
word: inflict
word: upset
Hyponyms: word: ruffle some feathers
word: pester
Coordinate terms: word: enrage
word: frighten
Derived terms: annoyable
annoyance
annoybot
annoyed
annoyer
annoyful
annoying
annoyment
annoyous
annoyware
Related terms: word: annoyed