annoying

1 of 2

adjective

an·​noy·​ing ə-ˈnȯi-iŋ How to pronounce annoying (audio)
Synonyms of annoying
: causing vexation or irritation : causing annoyance : irritating
an annoying habit
annoying questions
annoyingly
ə-ˈnȯi-iŋ-lē How to pronounce annoying (audio)
adverb

annoying

2 of 2

present participle of annoy

Synonyms of annoying

Relevance

Adjective

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of annoying in a Sentence

Adjective my partner has the annoying habit of eating all the pickles and leaving a jar full of pickle juice in the refrigerator
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Adjective
McCartney said of his note to Mendes about the height imbalance, wondering how the director will rectify this annoying, historic aberration. — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 13 Oct. 2026 Something in your routine, schedule, or workload may feel disproportionately annoying or demanding, especially if too many little things pile up at once. — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 13 Oct. 2026 The end of Sunday’s Last Week Tonight featured a characteristically stupid, yet insightful segment about effective ways to push back against corny and annoying corporate branding. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 12 Oct. 2026 In Atrahasis, noisy humans become annoying to the gods, so the gods drown them. — Eric Vanden Eykel, The Conversation, 6 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for annoying

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

see annoy

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of annoying was in the 15th century

Rhymes for annoying

See All Rhymes for annoying

Browse Nearby Words

annoyed
annoying
annual
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Annoying.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/annoying. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

annoying

adjective
an·​noy·​ing ə-ˈnȯi-iŋ How to pronounce annoying (audio)
: causing annoyance
an annoying habit
annoyingly adverb
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All