as in irritable
having or showing a habitually bad temper
a bilious old dog who snaps at everyone
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Recent Examples of bilious
And Emily’s side of the family isn't much better, represented by her mean, bilious aunt (Allison Janney, herself no slouch in the hissing-authority department) and her boozy mother (Elizabeth Perkins, replacing Jean Smart from the first film).
—
Tom Gliatto, People.com, 30 Apr. 2025
Under Nézet-Séguin, the musicians do the job spectacularly, releasing all those bilious harmonies and seething rhythms in an unbroken two-hour spasm of excitement.
—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 30 Apr. 2025
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
The death chamber is nine feet by twelve feet, painted a bilious turquoise.
—Lawrence Wright, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bilious
Tom Gliatto, People.com, 30 Apr. 2025
Under Nézet-Séguin, the musicians do the job spectacularly, releasing all those bilious harmonies and seething rhythms in an unbroken two-hour spasm of excitement.
—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 30 Apr. 2025
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
The death chamber is nine feet by twelve feet, painted a bilious turquoise.
—Lawrence Wright, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bilious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bilious
Adjective
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But Maguire, now 43, became sad and irritable, and didn’t want to be around his newborn.—
Keith Wagstaff,
Los Angeles Times,
10 June 2026
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Additionally, Owens' youngest child, Titus, who was just a toddler when his mother died, was confused, irritable and inconsolable in the weeks after her death, Dias shared.—
Lynsey Eidell,
PEOPLE,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
Texts, screen grabs, recordings and other records recovered from a search of Rinderknecht’s cellphones portray a man who was by turns lonely and livid, angry at billionaires and ex-romantic partners while seemingly scared about his own declining mental health.—
James Queally,
Los Angeles Times,
12 June 2026
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So that prompted protests and disturbances in Southampton, and a huge, angry reaction from the far right, both within Britain and internationally.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
12 June 2026
Adjective
-
Still, the internet nurtures these Hobbesian, splenetic views.—
Annie Lowrey,
The Atlantic,
24 May 2026
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Meanwhile, the commentator and controversialist Piers Morgan, an obsessively close observer and relentless critic of Meghan, inevitably waded in with his usual splenetic views.—
Sarah Lyall,
New York Times,
17 Sep. 2022
Adjective
-
Better is Danny Elfman’s spartan and fraught score, particularly the dyspeptic drums.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Jan. 2026
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But Kael sensed in her less dyspeptic moments that there was something special about Redford.—
Stephen Galloway,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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De la Espriella also represented some high-profile victims, including Natalia Ponce de León, who was the target of an acid attack in 2014, and Rosa Elvira Cely, whose murder in 2012 generated national outrage and led to the creation of Colombia’s femicide laws.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
1 June 2026
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New York — In New York’s Hudson Valley, the artist Anicka Yi has erected columns bursting with mercurial microbial life, in hues of acid green and coffee, arranged like an archaeological dig at Storm King Art Center.—
Jacqui Palumbo,
CNN Money,
29 May 2026
Adjective
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There are also a lot of people who have never dreamed of being disagreeable in public, much less considered joining a raucous social movement.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
12 June 2026
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The disagreeable object proved no match for the most fertile person in Montana.—
Jonathan Franzen,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Adjective
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The cantankerous Jackson Lamb is back in a first look at season six of Slow Horses.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
11 June 2026
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The cantankerous Croatian lasted until November.—
James Horncastle,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
Adjective
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Leach also would publicly call out his players and could get ornery when questioned about his team’s shortcomings.—
Ralph D. Russo,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
-
The rabbi is ornery, arrogant, sometimes cruel.—
Daniel Felsenthal,
Vulture,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bilious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bilious. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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