as in irritable
having or showing a habitually bad temper
an ill-humored person should probably not take a job that requires dealing with the public
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ill-humored
Adjective
-
If you are rushed or irritable, say so.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025 -
Avi tries to comfort his grieving (read: irritable) mother by saying at least his grandmother and grandfather are together again in Heaven.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
In 1795, a Philadelphia town hall held to debate the Jay Treaty ended with attendees throwing rocks; two hundred and thirty years later, angry protesters at the Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s town hall were tased and shot with stun guns.—
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
-
The unhappy person is one who looks jealously at other plates or is angry that they are served last.—
Jonny Thomson,
Big Think,
25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
And while there is enough splenetic wit and manic detail to generate obsessive fandom (entire sections of Web sites are dedicated to deciphering just what Kenny is mumbling), subjects like alien abduction, genetic engineering, and Kathie Lee are hardly original targets for satire.—
Chris Norris,
SPIN,
13 Aug. 2022
Adjective
-
Tudyk played Sonny, a robot who helps the cantankerous detective uncover the truth behind his creator's death.—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA Today,
12 Aug. 2025
-
Advertisement Johnson anticipates more challenges from his cantankerous colleagues.—
Eric Cortellessa,
Time,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Over the weekend, reports emerged that the higher tariffs followed a disagreeable Thursday phone call between Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and Trump — which Swiss officials rejected, according to Reuters.—
Sophie Kiderlin,Jenni Reid,
CNBC,
4 Aug. 2025
-
Trump and his supporters prefer a happy history, a pleasant history that arouses patriotism by overlooking disagreeable people and despicable events that sully the nation’s reputation and mar the magnificence of the American story.—
William C. Hine,
Twin Cities,
23 July 2025
Adjective
-
That continues when the matriarch finally passes away 20 years later, leaving equally bilious offspring Laras (Dinda Kanyadewi) in charge.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
6 Aug. 2025
-
Even though his bloodwork looked normal six months previously, sudden onset or acute renal failure can happen in an old dog for no apparent reason other than age and result in bilious vomiting.—
Dr. John De Jong,
Boston Herald,
8 June 2025
Adjective
-
Their aggressive, ornery, and unpredictable nature has earned them the nickname Black Death.—
Kris Millgate,
Outdoor Life,
7 Aug. 2025
-
Meanwhile, eighty-three-year-old Harrison Ford earned his first Emmy nod for his role as the ornery therapist on the show Shrinking.—
Taylor Wilson,
USA Today,
16 July 2025
Adjective
-
Joining them and co-creators Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory and Frida Perez in the writers’ room for Season 2 is Sarah Polley, following her guest stint playing herself as an exasperated director in Season 1.—
Antonia Blyth,
Deadline,
18 Aug. 2025
-
Reprising his role as the exasperated accountant, Oscar (played by actor Oscar Nunez) wants no part in the crew’s latest project.—
Cheyenne Roundtree,
Rolling Stone,
7 Aug. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Ill-humored.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ill-humored. Accessed 5 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share