Definition of irascible
: marked by hot temper and easily provoked anger
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Examples of irascible in a Sentence
an irascible old football coach
He has an irascible disposition.
Recent Examples of irascible from the Web
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So the brilliant, grumpy and irascible priest of old times is gone, and — with him — goes a priceless oral history of the blues and thousands of songs.
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The Lorax is the noble but irascible environmental guardian who lives in the enchanted land of the fluffy Truffula tree.
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As Plummer humanizes his character, moving him from towering narcissist to irascible charmer, the story shoves Farmiga in the other direction.
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Getty Images Harlan Ellison, the legendary, legendarily irascible speculative fiction writer who died this week at age 84, wrote the greatest episode of Star Trek ever made.
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Juszkiewicz has a colourful reputation as a businessman, a reportedly irascible and temperamental character, he was known for taking his sales execs to a gun range to shoot up Fenders, Gibson's main rival guitar brand.
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The more the rest of the world complains, the more irascible China sounds.
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But for full contest access, Max must pose as a competitor, with the irascible Rottie undergoing a show dog crash course courtesy of an ex-champion, Philippe (Stanley Tucci), and a human FBI special canine consultant (Natasha Lyonne).
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For now, White House aides said, Giuliani still has a direct line in to Trump—the two speak almost daily—and nobody in the West Wing is eager to insert themselves between the two irascible New Yorkers by yanking Giuliani off TV.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'irascible.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
irascible Has an Angry History
If you try to take apart "irascible" in the same manner as "irrational," "irresistible," or "irresponsible," you might find yourself wondering what "ascible" means-but that's not how "irascible" came to be. The key to the meaning of "irascible" isn't the negative prefix ir- (which is used before words that begin with "r"), but the Latin noun ira, meaning "anger." From "ira," which is also the root of "irate" and "ire," came the Latin verb irasci ("to become angry"), which led to French irascible. English speakers borrowed the word from French in the 16th century.
Origin and Etymology of irascible
Middle French, from Late Latin irascibilis, from Latin irasci to become angry, be angry, from ira
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: circa 1530
in the meaning defined above
See Words from the same yearirascible Synonyms
Synonyms
choleric, crabby, cranky, cross, crotchety, fiery, grouchy, grumpy, irritable, peevish, perverse, pettish, petulant, prickly, quick-tempered, raspy, short-tempered, snappish, snappy, snippy, stuffy, testy, waspish;
Near Antonyms
affable, companionable, cordial, extroverted (also extraverted), friendly, genial, gregarious, outgoing, sociable;
agreeable, amiable, good-natured, good-tempered, sweet, well-disposed;
carefree, easygoing, happy-go-lucky, relaxed;
forbearing, long-suffering, obliging, patient, stoic (or stoical), tolerant, uncomplaining, understanding;
Related Words
bearish, bilious, cantankerous, cross-grained, curmudgeonly, disagreeable, dyspeptic, ill-humored, ill-natured, ill-tempered, off-color (or off-colored), ornery, querulous, snarly, surly;
argumentative, bellicose, belligerent, combative, contentious, disputatious, fractious, fretful, pugnacious, quarrelsome, scrappy, truculent;
huffy, pouty, sensitive, short, sulky, sullen, tetchy, thin-skinned, touchy;
Phrases
out of humor, out of sorts;
IRASCIBLE Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of irascible for English Language Learners
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: becoming angry very easily : having a bad temper
IRASCIBLE Defined for Kids
Definition of irascible for Students
: easily angered
Learn More about irascible
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See words that rhyme with irascible Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for irascible Spanish Central: Translation of irascible Nglish: Translation of irascible for Spanish speakers
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