chafe vs irritate

chafe is a noun but irritate is not a noun.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
chafe	Yes	No	Yes	No
irritate	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, chafe and irritate are synonyms defined as:

chafe and irritate: cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

Other synonyms of chafe include annoy, bother, devil, get at, get to, gravel, nark, nettle, rag, rile, vex.

As verbs, irritate is a hypernym of chafe; that is, irritate is a word with a broader meaning than chafe:

chafe (noun)	irritate (noun)
anger produced by some annoying irritation
soreness and warmth caused by friction

chafe (verb)	irritate (verb)
warm by rubbing, as with the hands	excite to an abnormal condition, or chafe or inflame
tear or wear off the skin or make sore by abrading	excite to some characteristic action or condition, such as motion, contraction, or nervous impulse, by the application of a stimulus
cause friction	cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
feel extreme irritation or anger
become or make sore by or as if by rubbing