the.com/irritated
The body's way of saying back off before the words arrive.
means Feeling annoyed, bothered, or impatient — or, of skin and tissue, inflamed and sore.
from From Latin irritare, "to excite, provoke, enrage," which gives us the past participle irritatus. English borrowed it in the 1500s, and from the start it carried both senses we still use: the mind that's been provoked and the flesh that's been rubbed raw. The two meanings are really one idea — something has been stirred up that would rather be left alone.
- latin root
- From irritare, meaning to provoke or excite
- skin sense
- Doctors call inflamed skin irritated too
- slow burn
- Sits between mildly annoyed and fully furious
- contagious mood
- Irritation spreads through tone faster than words
for instance
customer service hold times — average wait time of 27 minutes for us airline customer service in 2023
slow wifi connection — speeds under 5 mbps affecting 21 million americans as of 2024