From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
irksome
adj : so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; "a
boring evening with uninteresting people"; "the
deadening effect of some routine tasks"; "a dull play";
"his competent but dull performance"; "a ho-hum speaker
who couldn't capture their attention"; "what an irksome
task the writing of long letters is"- Edmund Burke;
"tedious days on the train"; "the tiresome chirping of
a cricket"- Mark Twain; "other people's dreams are
dreadfully wearisome" [syn: boring, deadening,
dull, ho-hum, slow, tedious, tiresome,
wearisome]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Irksome \Irk"some\, a.
1. Wearisome; tedious; disagreeable or troublesome by reason
of long continuance or repetition; as, irksome hours;
irksome tasks.
[1913 Webster]
For not to irksome toil, but to delight,
He made us. --Milton.
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2. Weary; vexed; uneasy. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Let us therefore learn not to be irksome when God
layeth his cross upon us. --Latimer.
Syn: Wearisome; tedious; tiresome; vexatious; burdensome.
Usage: Irksome, Wearisome, Tedious. These epithets
describe things which give pain or disgust. Irksome is
applied to something which disgusts by its nature or
quality; as, an irksome task. Wearisome denotes that
which wearies or wears us out by severe labor; as,
wearisome employment. Tedious is applied to something
which tires us out by the length of time occupied in
its performance; as, a tedious speech.
[1913 Webster]
Wearisome nights are appointed to me. --Job vii.
3.
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Pity only on fresh objects stays,
But with the tedious sight of woes decays.
--Dryden.
-- Irk"some*ly, adv. -- Irk"some*ness, n.
[1913 Webster]