IRK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does irk mean? 

• IRK (verb)
  The verb IRK has 1 sense:

1. irritate or vex

  Familiarity information: IRK used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IRK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they irk    ... he / she / it irks   
Past simple: irked   
Past participle: irked   
-ing form: irking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Irritate or vex

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

gall; irk

Context example:

It galls me that we lost the suit

Hypernyms (to "irk" is one way to...):

anger (make angry)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to irk Sue

 Context examples 

By midday the irk of his pack became too oppressive.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Her position on the heeling boat irked her, and she remembered the headache he had cured and the soothing rest that resided in him.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The event of the day—that is, the return of Diana and Mary—pleased him; but the accompaniments of that event, the glad tumult, the garrulous glee of reception irked him: I saw he wished the calmer morrow was come.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

And all the while, interested in the discussion, Martin had been aware of an irk in it as well.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)