énervant

annoying, irritating

adjective eh-nehr-VAHN Rare

Usage Note

Énervant is the present-participial adjective from énerver (to irritate, to get on someone's nerves). It describes a situation or person that provokes mild irritation. The feminine is énervante. Note that énerver does NOT mean 'to enervate' (weaken) as in English — it means 'to annoy'; a classic false friend. Être énervé means 'to be irritated or worked up'.

Examples

"Ce bruit répétitif est vraiment énervant."

Natural Translation

That repetitive noise is really annoying.

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