annoy

Etymology

From Middle English anoyen, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman anuier, Old French enuier (“to molest, harm, tire”), from Late Latin inodiō (“cause aversion, make hateful”, verb), from the phrase in odiō (“hated”), from Latin odium (“hatred”). Doublet of ennui. Displaced native Old English dreċċan and gremman.

verb

1. (transitive) To disturb or irritate, especially by continued or repeated acts; to bother with unpleasant deeds.
   Yet let me flap this bug with gilded wings, / This painted child of dirt that stinks and stings; / Whose buzz the witty and the fair annoys, / Yet wit ne'er tastes, and beauty ne'r enjoys. 1735, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot
   In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%. That means about $165 billion was spent not on drumming up business, but on annoying people, creating landfill and cluttering spam filters. 2013-05-25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, page 74
   Marc loved his sister, but when she annoyed him he wanted to switch her off.
2. (intransitive) To do something to upset or anger someone; to be troublesome.
   You Klaestrons are allies of the Cardassians; your knowledge of the station confirms that they must have given you the layouts. Which not only compromises Bajoran security, but also... annoys us. 1993, D.C. Fontana, Peter Allan Fields, “Dax”, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 1, episode 8, spoken by Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor)
3. (transitive) To molest; to harm; to injure.
   to annoy an army by impeding its march, or by a cannonade
   Say, what can more our tortured souls annoy / Than to behold, admire, and lose our joy? 1691, Matthew Prior, Pastoral to Dr. Turner, Bishop of Ely

noun

1. (literary, archaic) A feeling of discomfort or vexation caused by what one dislikes.
2. (literary, archaic) That which causes such a feeling.