dudgeon

1 of 2

noun (1)

dud·geon ˈdə-jən

Synonyms of dudgeon

obsolete : a wood used especially for dagger hilts

archaic : a dagger with a handle of dudgeon

obsolete : a haft made of dudgeon

dudgeon

2 of 2

noun (2)

: a fit or state of indignation

—often used in the phrase in high dudgeon

Choose the Right Synonym for dudgeon

offense, resentment, umbrage, pique, dudgeon, huff mean an emotional response to or an emotional state resulting from a slight or indignity.

offense implies hurt displeasure.

takes deep offense at racial slurs

resentment suggests lasting indignation or ill will.

harbored a lifelong resentment of his brother

umbrage may suggest hurt pride, resentment, or suspicion of another's motives.

took umbrage at the offer of advice

pique applies to a transient feeling of wounded vanity.

in a pique I foolishly declined the invitation

dudgeon suggests an angry fit of indignation.

stormed out of the meeting in high dudgeon

huff implies a peevish short-lived spell of anger usually at a petty cause.

in a huff he slammed the door

Examples of dudgeon in a Sentence

Noun (2) stomped off in high dudgeon after having his honor questioned

Recent Examples on the Web

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Noun

Beck is in a state of high dudgeon, because there’s a big shipment due and two of his drivers are AWOL. —Chris Klimek, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025

Close’s game, canny performance of reliving her own past couldn’t quite obscure the ungainliness of some of Webber’s songs, the dudgeon and occasional monotony of the sung-through score, or the strain of trying to generate plot friction in a story with only four major characters. —Daniel D'addario, Variety, 21 Oct. 2024 But the movement is flummoxed now that its style of one-way dialogue and high-dudgeon shaming is provoking sharp backlash from illiberal strongmen, right-wing populists, and the mass constituencies that support these strongmen around the globe. —Jack Snyder, Foreign Affairs, 21 July 2022 Beck is in a state of high dudgeon, because there’s a big shipment due and two of his drivers are AWOL. —Chris Klimek, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025 Instead, the high dudgeon now heard in Tennant’s fey voice gives too much weight to the smugness of group-thinkers. —Armond White, National Review, 18 Sep. 2024 Truth Social, meanwhile, is its own, strange creature: a social media platform born out of Donald Trump’s dudgeon at being banned from Facebook and Twitter due to his posts on those platforms. —Samanth Subramanian, Quartz, 23 Mar. 2024 But some Angelenos took their picket signs and their dudgeon to City Hall. —Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2023 Dederer is at her best on such complicities—her own fondness for assholes, our cultural fascination with monsters—and less convincing when in a dudgeon, or deploying her feelings and experiences as intellectual credentials. —Laura Kipnis, The New Republic, 5 May 2023