annoy
- 01 B1 Intermediate
v.to make someone feel a little bit angry or lose their patience.
v.to irritate or bother someone, typically through repeated or persistent actions that cause mild anger.
Simple“The sound of the dripping tap started to annoy me while I was trying to sleep.”
In context“It began to annoy the professor when students consistently arrived ten minutes late, disrupting the flow of the morning lecture.”
PitfallI am very annoy with the loud music. I am very annoyed with the loud music.Use the '-ed' ending (annoyed) to describe how a person feels, and the '-ing' ending (annoying) to describe the thing causing the feeling.
- 02 C2 Proficiency
n.a feeling of being bothered or slightly angry.
n.a state of discomfort or vexation; used primarily in older literature to describe the feeling of being troubled.
Simple“In the old story, the knight felt great annoy at the constant noise.”
In context“The poet spoke of a deep annoy that troubled his spirit, a restless irritation born of long years in exile.”
Synonymsannoyancevexation - 03 C2 Proficiency
n.something that causes trouble or makes you feel bothered.
n.that which causes irritation or harm; a source of nuisance or injury.
Simple“The cold wind was a constant annoy to the travelers on the mountain.”
In context“The king sought to rid his lands of every annoy, from the bandits on the roads to the heavy taxes on the poor.”
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.
From Middle English anoy, from Old French enui. Doublet of ennui.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.