annoy, v. (alt: mind ruffle)

1. intr. To be hateful, odious, offensive, or a cause of trouble (to, or with dat.) Obs.

2. trans. To be hateful or distasteful to; to trouble, irk, bore, weary. (= Fr. ennuyer.) In passive const. w. of. Obs.

b. impers. it annoys me..: it irks me. Obs. rare.

3. trans. To affect (a person) in a way that disturbs his equanimity, hurts his susceptibilities, or causes slight irritation. (Refers to the feeling produced, rather than to the action producing it; hence commonest in the passive to be annoyed: to be ruffled in mind, troubled, vexed.)

b. to be annoyed after or for: to worry about, be anxious for. Obs. rare.

c. refl. To vex oneself, take offence, grieve. Obs.

d. intr. (refl. pron. omitted.) Obs.

4. By transf. to the objective means: To molest, injure, hurt, harm; now esp. in military use.

b. absol.

5. To affect (a thing) in a way which interferes with its proper action; to interfere with detrimentally, affect injuriously. Obs.

-Oxford English Dictionary

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4 Responses to annoy, v. (alt: mind ruffle)

  1. KM Petrullo says:

    I just saw an ad for your book on the sidebar of my fb page. Will be reading this one! Btw I was told during a hearing screening (at age 55) that I have particularly acute hearing. Do you think that would account for my being a particularly annoyed person? lol

    Best of luck with your book! Love Science Friday! K

    • JoePalca says:

      Thanks for the good wishes…good hearing is a curse ( and a blessing). My wife can’t hear a word I say, but she seems to understand others just fine. :)

  2. slacker says:

    Good blog, I’m going to spend more time reading about this subject

  3. Maddy says:

    I was reading the excerpt from you book and just that definition [the inability to tune stuff out] is extremely insightful. Will you have a follow up book on how to learn to cope / techniques to tamp down the annoyance? Now that would be really helpful. Best of luck with the book.

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