chafe

/tʃeɪf/

/tʃeɪf/

Other forms: chafed; chafing; chafes

To chafe is to irritate or annoy. If your shoes chafe you, they rub your skin raw. Ouch. If you chafe at the suggestion that you should be studying more, the suggestion rubs you the wrong way.

Chafe originally meant to warm, like a chafing dish on a hotel buffet. Though this may seem like a big jump, think of when your hands are cold and you rub them together to warm them up. So you can say that rubbed skin is kind of hot as is a temper flaring up from irritation. If you are a hot head, you are easily chafed.

Definitions of chafe

1. verb

   become or make sore by or as if by rubbing
   synonyms: fret, gall

   type of:

   irritate

   excite to an abnormal condition, or chafe or inflame
2. verb

   tear or wear off the skin or make sore by abrading
   “This leash chafes the dog's neck”

   synonyms: excoriate

   type of:

   abrade, abrase, corrade, rub down, rub off

   wear away
3. verb

   cause friction
   synonyms: fray, fret, rub, scratch

   type of:

   adjoin, contact, meet, touch

   be in direct physical contact with; make contact
4. verb

   warm by rubbing, as with the hands
   type of:

   warm

   make warm or warmer
5. noun

   soreness and warmth caused by friction
   “he had a nasty chafe on his knee”

   type of:

   rawness, soreness, tenderness

   a pain that is felt (as when the area is touched)
6. verb

   cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
   synonyms: annoy, bother, devil, get at, get to, gravel, irritate, nark, nettle, rag, rile, vex

   types:

   get, get under one's skin

   irritate

   eat into, fester, fret, gnaw, grate, rankle

   gnaw into; make resentful or angry

   peeve

   cause to be annoyed, irritated, or resentful

   ruffle

   trouble or vex

   fret

   cause annoyance in

   beset, chevvy, chevy, chivvy, chivy, harass, harry, hassle, molest, plague, provoke

   annoy continually or chronically

   antagonise, antagonize

   provoke the hostility of

   goad, needle

   goad or provoke, as by constant criticism

   bedevil, crucify, dun, frustrate, rag, torment

   treat cruelly

   haze

   harass by imposing humiliating or painful tasks, as in military institutions

   type of:

   displease

   give displeasure to
7. verb

   feel extreme irritation or anger
   “He was chafing at her suggestion that he stay at home while she went on a vacation”

   synonyms:

   annoy, bother, devil, get at, get to, gravel, irritate, nark, nettle, rag, rile, vex

   cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

   type of:

   experience, feel

   undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind
8. noun

   anger produced by some annoying irritation
   synonyms: annoyance, vexation

   types:

   irritation, pique, temper

   a sudden outburst of anger

   frustration

   a feeling of annoyance at being hindered or criticized

   aggravation, exasperation

   an exasperated feeling of annoyance

   harassment, torment

   a feeling of intense annoyance caused by being tormented

   displeasure

   the feeling of being displeased or annoyed or dissatisfied with someone or something

   type of:

   anger, bile, choler, ire

   anger; irritability