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Irritation vs Nettlesome - What's the difference?

irritation | nettlesome |

As a noun irritation

is the act of irritating, or exciting, or the state of being irritated; excitement; stimulation, usually of an undue and uncomfortable kind; especially, excitement of anger or passion; provocation; annoyance; anger.

As an adjective nettlesome is

causing irritation, annoyance, or discomfort; bothersome, irksome.

irritation

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The act of irritating, or exciting, or the state of being irritated; excitement; stimulation, usually of an undue and uncomfortable kind; especially, excitement of anger or passion; provocation; annoyance; anger.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
    • , author=Anna Lena Phillips , title=Sneaky Silk Moths , volume=100, issue=2, page=172 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.}}
  • The act of exciting, or the condition of being excited to action, by stimulation; -- as, the condition of an organ of sense, when its nerve is affected by some external body; especially, the act of exciting muscle fibers to contraction, by artificial stimulation; as, the irritation of a motor nerve by electricity; also, the condition of a muscle and nerve, under such stimulation.
  • A condition of morbid excitability or oversensitiveness of an organ or part of the body; a state in which the application of ordinary stimuli produces pain or excessive or vitiated action.

    • Derived terms

    * irritative * irritant

    Related terms

    * irritate

    External links

    * * (Webster 1913) ----

    nettlesome

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Causing irritation, annoyance, or discomfort; bothersome, irksome.
    • My poison ivy rash is very nettlesome .
  • * 1995 , , A Cold Day in Hell , ISBN 9780553299762, online edition:
    • Mackenzie made himself a nettlesome burr under Crook's saddle, irritating the commanding general.
  • * 2011 April 16, , " Fishermen in Amazon See a Rival in Dolphins," New York Times (retrieved 20 Jan 2011):
    • Though the pink dolphins are protected by law, the fishermen see them as nettlesome competitors for the catches that feed their families.
  • Thorny; difficult to deal with, especially due to being complex or tricky.
    • The task of proving Fermat’s “last” theorem remains nettlesome .
    Be careful what you say to him; he's a nettlesome fellow.
  • * 1832 , (editor), Lights and Shadows of American Life , vol. 2, p. 241:
    • [A]ll the strange oaths and imprecations found in a seaman's vocabulary were called into service by our nettlesome captain and his crew, and hurled without mercy on the winds and weather.
  • * 1904 , , The Crossing (2003 Kessinger reprint), ISBN 9780766169982, p. 61:
    • It so chanced that on the second day after my arrival a pack-train came along, guided by a nettlesome old man and a strong, black-haired lass of sixteen or thereabouts. The old man . . . had no sooner slipped the packs from the horses than he began to rail at Hans, who stood looking on. "You damned Dutchmen all be Tories, and worse," he cried.
  • * 1950 Oct. 9, " The Press: John Smith, Negro," Time :
    • Almost daily, U.S. newspapers are confronted by a nettlesome problem for which they have found no final answer. The problem: Should Negroes be identified as such in news stories?
  • * 1989' Dec. 29, Kenneth B. Noble, " Nigeria Enlists the '''Nettlesome Man in Short Pants," ''New York Times (retrieved 20 Jan 2011):
    • For nearly 40 years, Mr. Solarin, an unpretentious and intensely pugnacious man, has been an intellectual guru for Nigeria's disenchanted and disfranchised.
  • * 1995 , , Beauty from Ashes , ISBN 9780385423144, p. 146:
    • No one could act naturally with her. . . . She was sure she had never lived through days in which she, Anne Couper Fraser, forced those nearby to tiptoe around her nettlesome personality.
  • * 2000 Jan. 6, Jeremy Quittner, " The Lemonade Stand Circa 2000: A Boy, a Site, a $10 Million Lawsuit ," BusinessWeek (retrieved 20 Jan 2011):
    • He's also delving into one of the most nettlesome legal issues on the Net — whether one party can turn another's trademark into a URL.

    See also

    * mettlesome