Other forms: irked, irks, irking
To irk is to annoy somebody persistently. It irks me, irked by the delay, what irks him most.
It is a small word for a small and lasting annoyance, and it suits a grievance that has been going on. The Old Norse behind it meant to work, and the sense of being wearied came from there.
1verbirkTo annoy somebody persistently.
“It really irks me when people talk loudly on their phones on the train.”
irk is an annoying.
Middle English irken comes from Old Norse yrkja, to work, by way of being wearied.
Proto-Indo-European
*werǵ- — to work
Proto-Germanic
*wurkijaną — to work
Old Norse
yrkja — to work
Middle English
irken — to tire, grow weary
English, today
irk
Middle English irken (“to tire, grow weary”), from Old Norse yrkja (“to work”), from Proto-Germanic wurkijaną (“to work”), from Proto-Indo-European werǵ- (“to work”). Cognate with Icelandic yrkja (“to compose”), Swedish yrka (“to urge, argue”), Old English wyrċan (“to work”). a doublet of work.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA