Crossword Genius

Smirking, about to irritate (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

irk

'irritate' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'smirking about' is the wordplay.
'about' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'IRK' can be found hidden inside 'smirking'.

'to' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for irk that I've seen before include "Gall" , "Annoy in quirky way" , "English river" , "Wind up" , "Severely annoy" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
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