Rub the wrong way

The answer

ANNOY

5 letters. See every clue for this answer on the ANNOY answer page.

Used 12 times across 10 distinct years; most recently in 2024; first recorded in 1999. It appears in 9 publications in the xd corpus. Frequency and last-seen figures come from the xd crossword corpus only.

Other answers for this clue

The same clue has also been answered these ways in the xd corpus. Answers inside this collection link to their own answer page.

• RILE (66 uses in xd)
• IRK (58 uses in xd)
• CHAFE (55 uses in xd)
• ABRADE (32 uses in xd)
• PEEVE (11 uses in xd)

Other clues for ANNOY

Every other clue in this collection answered by ANNOY, most used first.

• Pester - used 78 times, most recently in 2026
• Bother - used 64 times, most recently in 2026
• Bug - used 50 times, most recently in 2026
• Irritate - used 44 times, most recently in 2026
• Irk - used 29 times, most recently in 2026
• Vex - used 18 times, most recently in 2022
• Be a bother to - used 10 times, most recently in 2026
• Get to - used 10 times, most recently in 2024
• Rankle - used 9 times, most recently in 2024
• Tick off - used 9 times, most recently in 2022
• Be a pain in the neck - used 8 times, most recently in 2014
• Be a pest to - used 8 times, most recently in 2026
• Nettle - used 7 times, most recently in 2021
• Harass - used 6 times, most recently in 2011
• Tee off - used 6 times, most recently in 2010

Related clues

Clues in this collection of the same answer length that share a word with this clue, or match its answer pattern when no word is shared. Most used first.

• In the know - AWARE, used 356 times
• Rub out - ERASE, used 217 times
• To the point - TERSE, used 194 times
• Take the wheel - STEER, used 188 times
• In any way - ATALL, used 185 times
• Cream of the crop - ELITE, used 175 times

Search the clue collection

Search by clue words or by answer, or type a pattern with the letters you have and a blank for each square you do not know. The characters _ ? . and - all work as blanks.