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annoy

[uh-noi]

Example Sentences Origin

verb (used with object)

to disturb or bother (a person) in a way that displeases, troubles, or slightly irritates.

to molest; harm.

verb (used without object)

to be bothersome or troublesome.

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Annoy is one of our favorite verbs.

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to flee; abscond:

to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.

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noun

Archaic. an annoyance.

Origin:
1250–1300; (v.) Middle English an(n)oien, enoien < Anglo-French, Old French anoier, anuier to molest, harm, tire < Late Latin inodiāre to cause aversion, from Latin phrase mihi in odiō est … I dislike …; compare in-², odium, ennui, noisome; (noun) Middle English a(n)noi, ennoi < Anglo-French, Old French a(n)nui, etc., derivative of the v.

Related forms

an·noy·er, noun

half-an·noyed, adjective

un·an·noyed, adjective

Can be confused: aggravate, annoy, intensify, irritate, worsen (see usage note at aggravate; see synonym note at irritate).

Synonyms
1. harass, pester. See bother, worry.

Antonyms
1. comfort, calm, soothe.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To annoy

Example Sentences

Big things, little things, all kinds of things annoy you.

If you can manage to have the dean's actions annoy as many people on campus as possible, then you have some leverage for change.

The two journalists in trouble both specialise in stories that annoy important people.

EXPAND

Big things, little things, all kinds of things annoy you.

If you can manage to have the dean's actions annoy as many people on campus as possible, then you have some leverage for change.

The two journalists in trouble both specialise in stories that annoy important people.

Freeloaders annoy honey badgers, but don't cause them to go hungry.

I'd ignore it because fake plants, no matter how real looking, simply annoy the hell out of me.

Inside there are six speakers, and at the side there's a backlit volume knob that will annoy as it glows at night.

Over the years practices that annoy restaurant customers have changed.

Don't annoy your editor or fly into a rage if something doesn't go your way.

Where his uppity energy once inspired the country's voters, today it seems merely to annoy.

There were two problems-one that could be solved then and there and another that would continue to annoy me.

Maybe it's stocked with people he wanted to keep busy so they wouldn't annoy him.

Just remember to thread the headphone cable up your sleeve or it will annoy the hell out of you.

Ever since there have been radios, adolescents have turned up the volume to annoy adults.

Occasionally, a shade will hang around simply to annoy.

He may not want to annoy the states more than he already has.

These people annoy me, because they treat the dog as an object.

Again you digress from science into the nontheist arguments that annoy and inflame sciam readers.

Patches annoy users by making them update their software, and piss them off even more if the update doesn't work properly.

Silly cartoon that's been around for a while, with a soundtrack to annoy everyone in the room.

Coppocg and lauren1 both caught things that annoy me about this piece.

Stirring strings and waving flags in politicians' campaign spots annoy me.

Our beagle has attacked our cats because he's an old dog and they annoy him or stick their noses in his food bowl.

What the app really needs, and what would really annoy store-owners, is a bar code reader for instant price comparison shopping.

There is a point at which determination lapses into obstinacy, serving only to waste time and annoy the opponents.

The biggest difference between spam and virii is that virii were written as methods of blind destruction to annoy people.

Please feel free to add the words that annoy you in the comments.

Here's to helping the earth and humbling the people that annoy us the most.

Andrews's triumphs on stage and screen annoy many theater people.

They sound a bit muffled, but they pump out enough volume to annoy the neighbors properly.

Bosses are going to be much more likely to be lenient to workers they already value than ones that annoy them.

Sheehan believes the virus is simply an excuse to get rid of the noisy chickens that annoy some tourists and residents.

So instead of hitting a red light you'll annoy all the drivers behind you by slowing down to avoid.

I've told my students before that the two groups of people absolutely not to annoy are the secreatries and the janitors.

But mayors would prefer to annoy companies than voters.

Other grad students annoy me with certain behaviors.

And the national parties will not want to annoy voters by telling them that their ballots do not count for much.

After a few months this should start to annoy you if you are paying in the long term.

If your kid gets really good at this, perhaps you can make a long pseudo-forward answering machine message to annoy your callers.

My guess is that it would take too long, requiring a lifeline or two, and only annoy the marketing types from each corporation.

Fix the writing, and change the language on the things you disagree with in a way that won't annoy your advisor.

The fact that the government isn't willing to annoy voters/corporations is a result of the fact that they have to get elected.

Fansy was a low-level bard who exists solely to annoy other players.

The composed stalker is not trying to establish a relationship with the victim but methodically sets out to annoy and irritate.

First on a list of traits that tend to annoy others, interestingly, is that of being constantly annoyed.

The purpose of higher education is to teach people not to annoy strangers with overly-long, unfocused, self-important essays.

It's fast enough to terrorize the cats and annoy the dog and is sure to come out often for that task.

Radio announcers have habits that annoy you, habits that charm you.

That's probably the best reason never to post to threads that annoy one.

Google realized from the start that irrelevant ads would annoy its users.

It's the ones that are nearly consistently unprepared that annoy me.

Lelouch has either cleaned up his act or lost his power to annoy.

Even those who annoy and underperform can surprise us in positive ways.

That's banker-speak for getting rid of regulations that annoy big financial operators.

No cat is ever going to have that much opportunity to annoy me.

Annoy both sides, with a consumption tax and an end to the corporate income tax.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

annoy (əˈnɔɪ)

—vb
1.	to irritate or displease
2.	to harass with repeated attacks

[C13: from Old French anoier, from Late Latin inodiāre to make hateful, from Latin in odiō (esse) (to be) hated, from odium hatred]

an'noyer

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

annoy

mid-13c., from Anglo-Fr. anuier, from O.Fr. enoiier, anuier "to weary, vex," from L.L. inodiare "make loathsome," from L. (esse) in odio "(it is to me) hateful," abl. of odium "hatred."

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