English

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Etymology

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Blend of irritating +‎ entertainment.

Noun

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irritainment (uncountable)

  1. Entertainment that annoys, embarrasses, or upsets more than or as much as it entertains, whether unintentionally or by design.
    • 1997, Jaymz Bee, Cocktail Parties for Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 127:
      Because their volume interjects such an overwhelming ambiance to the party, make sure that your entertainers are the right ones. You want entertainment, not irritainment.
  2. A media spectacle, particularly a scandal, that is simultaneously irritating and engrossing.
    • 1998 September 26, Lewis W. Diuguid, “Changing channels on scandal”, in The Kansas City Star:
      Like others, I followed Clinton's apologies on TV and in print and laughed at the "I'm Sorry Chorus" from the also-unclean GOP choir. I've said it before: This is "irritainment" - a macabre mix of irritation and entertainment. The nastiness is a crime scene right in front of us.

Quotations

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