ornery
To be ornery is to be grumpy and hard to please. Oscar the Grouch? Definitely ornery.
The adjective ornery sprung up in the early 19th century when people started pronouncing ordinary with an accent. The root of ordinary is the Latin word for “order,” and if you disrupt the orderly existence of an ornery person, prepare to get yelled at. A person can have a consistently ornery personality, or maybe you’re feeling ornery today because you skipped breakfast. Some synonyms for ornery are cantankerous and crotchety, words that sound as grumpy as the people they describe.
-
having a difficult and contrary disposition
-
synonyms:
cantankerous, crotchety
-
ill-natured
having an irritable and unpleasant disposition
-
ill-natured
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing ornery
Named after a long line of men in his family, twelve-year-old Andrew Joseph Tyler visits his ancestral home in Missouri and gets transported back in time.
In this fifth and final book of the series The Trials of Apollo, Lester must defeat Nero without causing massive collateral damage to Manhattan.
Set in Nebraska during the late 19th century, this novel follows the lives of Nathaniel, a boy recovering from a farm injury, and John, an orphan adopted by Nathaniel's father to help work on the farm, as they form a friendship and help each other navigate through the challenges of small-town life.
Look up ornery for the last time
Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the words you need to know.
