From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishirritationir‧ri‧ta‧tion /ˌɪrɪˈteɪʃən/ noun 1 [uncountable]ANNOY the feeling of being annoyed about something, especially something that happens repeatedly or for a long time The heavy traffic is a constant source of irritation.irritation at/with The doctor’s irritation at being interrupted showed.2 [countable]ANNOY something that makes you annoyed The children are just an irritation for him when he’s trying to work.3 [countable, uncountable]MIFEEL HOT/COLD/TIRED ETC a painful sore feeling on a part of your body The astringent can cause irritation to sensitive skin. a throat irritation
Examples from the Corpus
irritation• There is a lesser one, which still remains an irritation.• Attwood's metallic music was an irritation.• So if you imagine that orders and irritation are going to intimidate me you're in for a big surprise!• But if the behaviour is repeated, and by the same fish, something is causing irritation and needs investigation.• The ringing of the telephone came as a distinct irritation.• Bailey expressed irritation with the inaccurate reports in the media.• He turned towards her, but the blankets entangled his legs and he fought his eyes open in irritation.• Protocol 2 studied the phenomenon of adaptive cytoprotection in response to mild irritation of the duodenal mucosa in the three experimental groups.• The heavy traffic is a constant source of irritation.irritation at/with• Another irritation with the current crop of fax modems is that the two parts of the modem don't cooperate with one another.• Sara was sad for her, but then the sadness was succeeded by irritation at the old lady's mischief.• I said, trying to remain calm despite my growing irritation with him.• This proved stronger than her irritation at the surprise in the young doctor's face.• My irritation at the contrivance lasted for 30 seconds.• His diaries chronicle each phase of irritation with novelistic detail.• Flora recollected Irena's consternation with satisfaction and Felicity Green's irritation with glee. 