1
obsolete
: a wood used especially for dagger hilts
2
a
archaic
: a dagger with a handle of dudgeon
b
obsolete
: a haft made of dudgeon
: a fit or state of indignation
—often used in the phrase in high dudgeon
Examples of dudgeon in a Sentence
Noun (2)
stomped off in high dudgeon after having his honor questioned
Recent Examples on the Web
Chris Klimek, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025
Close’s game, canny performance of reliving her own past couldn’t quite obscure the ungainliness of some of Webber’s songs, the dudgeon and occasional monotony of the sung-through score, or the strain of trying to generate plot friction in a story with only four major characters.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 21 Oct. 2024
But the movement is flummoxed now that its style of one-way dialogue and high-dudgeon shaming is provoking sharp backlash from illiberal strongmen, right-wing populists, and the mass constituencies that support these strongmen around the globe.
—Jack Snyder, Foreign Affairs, 21 July 2022
Beck is in a state of high dudgeon, because there’s a big shipment due and two of his drivers are AWOL.
—Chris Klimek, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025
Instead, the high dudgeon now heard in Tennant’s fey voice gives too much weight to the smugness of group-thinkers.
—Armond White, National Review, 18 Sep. 2024
Truth Social, meanwhile, is its own, strange creature: a social media platform born out of Donald Trump’s dudgeon at being banned from Facebook and Twitter due to his posts on those platforms.
—Samanth Subramanian, Quartz, 23 Mar. 2024
But some Angelenos took their picket signs and their dudgeon to City Hall.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2023
Dederer is at her best on such complicities—her own fondness for assholes, our cultural fascination with monsters—and less convincing when in a dudgeon, or deploying her feelings and experiences as intellectual credentials.
—Laura Kipnis, The New Republic, 5 May 2023
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Noun
Beck is in a state of high dudgeon, because there’s a big shipment due and two of his drivers are AWOL.
—Chris Klimek, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025
Close’s game, canny performance of reliving her own past couldn’t quite obscure the ungainliness of some of Webber’s songs, the dudgeon and occasional monotony of the sung-through score, or the strain of trying to generate plot friction in a story with only four major characters.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 21 Oct. 2024
But the movement is flummoxed now that its style of one-way dialogue and high-dudgeon shaming is provoking sharp backlash from illiberal strongmen, right-wing populists, and the mass constituencies that support these strongmen around the globe.
—Jack Snyder, Foreign Affairs, 21 July 2022
Beck is in a state of high dudgeon, because there’s a big shipment due and two of his drivers are AWOL.
—Chris Klimek, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025
Instead, the high dudgeon now heard in Tennant’s fey voice gives too much weight to the smugness of group-thinkers.
—Armond White, National Review, 18 Sep. 2024
Truth Social, meanwhile, is its own, strange creature: a social media platform born out of Donald Trump’s dudgeon at being banned from Facebook and Twitter due to his posts on those platforms.
—Samanth Subramanian, Quartz, 23 Mar. 2024
But some Angelenos took their picket signs and their dudgeon to City Hall.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2023
Dederer is at her best on such complicities—her own fondness for assholes, our cultural fascination with monsters—and less convincing when in a dudgeon, or deploying her feelings and experiences as intellectual credentials.
—Laura Kipnis, The New Republic, 5 May 2023
Cite this Entry
“Dudgeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dudgeon. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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