as in irritable
having or showing a habitually bad temper
an ornery old man who always yells at the neighborhood kids to keep off his lawn
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ornery
Throughout the movie, the ornery Scrooge (played by George C. Scott) is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.
—
Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Nov. 2024
One memorable scene, in which Tom Hanks’s ornery coach Jimmy Dugan throws a baseball mitt at a sneering Stilwell, proved particularly difficult.
—John Russell, People.com, 19 Nov. 2024
Chargers defense is physical with an ornery disposition.
—Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 13 Oct. 2024
Chief among them – though this lead, like every other character, goes nameless – is an ornery sort played by Mastandrea himself.
—Ben Croll, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for ornery
Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Nov. 2024
One memorable scene, in which Tom Hanks’s ornery coach Jimmy Dugan throws a baseball mitt at a sneering Stilwell, proved particularly difficult.
—John Russell, People.com, 19 Nov. 2024
Chargers defense is physical with an ornery disposition.
—Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 13 Oct. 2024
Chief among them – though this lead, like every other character, goes nameless – is an ornery sort played by Mastandrea himself.
—Ben Croll, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for ornery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ornery
Adjective
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Though most people benefit from eating more fiber, some may need to temporarily reduce their fiber intake to help their digestive system heal, such as during a flare-up of irritable bowel disease (IBD), diverticulitis, or Crohn’s disease.4 3.—
Melissa Nieves,
Verywell Health,
7 Mar. 2025
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Tornado Alley is a strip from Nebraska to Texas known for irritable weather systems.—
Ella Gonzales,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Consumers are angry about high prices, but few realize just how little profit many of the small and medium-sized food industry producers and independent restaurants who make and sell them their meals actually make.—
Rovshan Rasulov,
Forbes,
11 Mar. 2025
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During eight tumultuous days in 1988 at the world’s only Deaf university, four students must find a way to lead an angry mob to change the course of history.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Of course, even the most cantankerous player can have his suitors when his play is of a certain standard, and Acosta is among the best No. 10s in one of the few leagues that caters to the specialized role.—
Jeff Rueter,
The Athletic,
14 Feb. 2025
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Over the years, site landowners from the same family could be cantankerous (Elmer Lindsey) or friendly and willing to be engaged (Howard and Doris Lindsey).—
Michael Barnes,
Austin American-Statesman,
22 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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The Sum of a Career in Spaceflight Schirra had announced his plans to retire from NASA before the Apollo 7 flight, and a successful (if surly) mission, topped off with an Emmy Award and a Deep Draft Command certificate, wasn’t a bad way to wrap up a nine-year career at the agency.—
Kiona N. Smith,
Forbes,
12 Mar. 2025
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The Pacific Northwest, which has played host to a series of surly atmospheric rivers and a bomb cyclone in recent days, should finally quiet down, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys told USA TODAY on Sunday as that national weather picture for the holiday grew sharper.—
John Bacon,
USA TODAY,
24 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The United States’s three most powerful European allies disagree with its plan for ending the brutal, destructive stalemate in Ukraine, with Germany the most disagreeable.—
Dominic Green,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
21 Feb. 2025
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Sometimes that means confronting disagreeable people.—
David Plazas,
The Tennessean,
24 Apr. 2024
Adjective
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In the Nineties, the report became a staple in the bilious feedstock of right-wing militias, part of a slurry of propaganda that turned legitimate grievances into the conviction that FEMA agents in unmarked black helicopters were soon to enact a new world order.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harper's Magazine,
19 Feb. 2025
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The death chamber is nine feet by twelve feet, painted a bilious turquoise.—
Lawrence Wright,
The New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ornery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ornery. Accessed 20 Mar. 2025.
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