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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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By the end, Liverpool’s players seemed tired and Klopp was irritable, clearly in need of a rest.—
Simon Hughes,
The Athletic,
20 Jan. 2025
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The trio’s sixth record is charmingly irritable in both of its moods: hopped up on fluffy coffee while cracking baseball jokes, or dragging out downbeats and lamenting power structures to goad listeners with mounting anticipation.—
Madison Bloom,
Pitchfork,
4 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Second: When was the last time America, as a collective, got angry about anything?—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Feb. 2025
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The value of its currency is spiraling, inflation stands around 30%, and a broad range of Iran’s people are understandably growing angrier.—
Ian Bremmer,
TIME,
2 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Trouble is, his nemesis frequently escapes Cat Jail, which annoys the cantankerous Chief (Lil Rel Howery) and the city’s mean Mayor (Cheri Oteri).—
Courtney Howard,
Variety,
29 Jan. 2025
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What to Know Coughenour, 83, has a reputation for being a tough and cantankerous judge.—
Barbara A. Perry,
Newsweek,
27 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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That criticism, along with other struggles, has seemingly influenced Davis to be in a surly and unpredictable mood over the past two months.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes,
12 Jan. 2025
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Nero is a cynical and surly assassin who is betrayed by his master and long-term ally.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
19 Nov. 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 9 Feb. 2025.
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