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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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.
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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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Coupled with erratic blood sugar levels – often caused by diets high in refined sugars and low in nutrients – these energy dips and spikes can leave you feeling irritable and drained.Lina Begdache, The Conversation, 7 Jan. 2025
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This can contribute to symptoms such as fatigue, muscle aches, and irritable mood.Rosanna Sutherby, PharmD, Verywell Health, 3 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Waves of immigration have sparked an angry ethno-nationalism that advantages ideological extremes.Charles A. Kupchan, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2025
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Many people were really unhappy, depressed and angry, frustrated.Gabrielle Emanuel, NPR, 9 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Carrey portrays Ebenezer Scrooge, a cantankerous, greedy old man who is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve who show him the error of his ways.Keith Langston, People.com, 14 Dec. 2024
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The endearing homecoming introduces new characters including Moni (Hualalai Chung), a passionate island bard; Loto (Rose Matafeo), a quirky shipwright; Kele (David Fane), a cantankerous farmer; and Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), Moana’s tenacious younger sister.Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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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.Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 25 Nov. 2024
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Long assumed to be man-eaters, hammerhead sharks live in Florida, but very rarely bother humans. Sharks to watch out for in Florida (click for more): Bull Shark The prizefighter of the ocean: stout, surly and stubborn.Erik Vance, New York Times, 26 July 2024
Adjective
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Sometimes that means confronting disagreeable people.David Plazas, The Tennessean, 24 Apr. 2024
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The most important reason to avoid obsessing over China’s disagreeable regime, however, is that this fixation threatens a core U.S. advantage: Washington’s wide network of partners and allies.Evan S. Medeiros, Foreign Affairs, 8 July 2021
Adjective
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Everyone within her radius bears the germophobe’s wrath, with the only one who can occasionally pierce through her bilious anger being her upbeat hair-stylist sister Chantal (Michelle Austin), a mother of two vibrant daughters.Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 10 Jan. 2025
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The piece ran under an illustration of a black spatula dripping sinister goblets of melting plastic, against a background of bilious green.Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near ornery
Cite this Entry
“Ornery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ornery. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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