Irritability
Etymology
Latin irritatus, past participle of irritare
- Date: 1598
Definitions
- transitive verb
- 1 : to provoke impatience, anger, or displeasure in : annoy
- 2 : to induce irritability in or of
- intransitive verb
- to cause or induce displeasure or irritation
Synonyms
exasperate, nettle, provoke, rile, peeve mean to excite a feeling of anger or annoyance. irritate implies an often gradual arousing of angry feelings that may range from mere impatience to rage <constant nagging that irritated me greatly>.
Description
Irritability is an excessive response to stimuli. The term is used for both the physiological reaction to stimuli and for the pathological, abnormal or excessive sensitivity to stimuli; It is usually used to refer to anger or frustration.
Irritability may be demonstrated in behavioral responses to both physiological and behavioral stimuli including environmental, situational, sociological, and emotional stimuli.
Irritation or exacerbation, in biology and physiology, is a state of inflammation or painful reaction to allergy or cell-lining damage. A stimulus or agent which induces the state of irritation is an irritant. Irritants are typically thought of as chemical agents (for example phenol and capsaicin) but mechanical, thermal (heat) and radiative stimuli (for example ultraviolet light or ionising radiations) can also cause it. Irritation also has non-clinical usages referring to bothersome physical or psychological pain or discomfort.
Chronic irritation is a medical term signifying that afflictive health conditions have been present for a while. There are many disorders that can cause chronic irritation, the majority involves the skin, vagina, eyes and lungs.
