ILL-HUMORED Synonyms: 83 Similar and Opposite Words

ill-humored

adjective

ˈil-ˈhyü-mərd

Definition of ill-humored

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

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for ill-humored

Adjective

Perelman said people who have weakened immune systems and those with irritable bowel disease may want to talk to their doctors before incorporating the foods into their diet.

— Devi Shastri, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
The symptoms are so delayed that people often blame them on food poisoning, irritable-bowel syndrome, gluten intolerance.

— Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 29 June 2026

Definition of irritable

Adjective

The state Department of Transportation is scheduled to install temporary three-way stop signs at the intersections during a road project that’s already created mind-numbing traffic snarls and angry and confused drivers.

— Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 23 July 2026
That same source insisted to People that Jolie is no longer angry at her 62-year-old ex-husband.

— Martha Ross, Mercury News, 23 July 2026

Definition of angry

Adjective

Still, the internet nurtures these Hobbesian, splenetic views.

— Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 24 May 2026
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

Definition of splenetic

Adjective

Carroll O'Connor played the cantankerous antihero Archie Bunker, legendary for firing off his grumpy, bigoted views.

— Skyler Trepel, Entertainment Weekly, 12 July 2026
Principle photography is underway in London, with Jurassic Park star Jeff Goldblum sharing his memories of contending with Winston’s cantankerous Tyrannosaurus Rex.

— Matthew Carey, Deadline, 29 June 2026

Definition of cantankerous

Adjective

There are also a lot of people who have never dreamed of being disagreeable in public, much less considered joining a raucous social movement.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 12 June 2026
The disagreeable object proved no match for the most fertile person in Montana.

— Jonathan Franzen, New Yorker, 1 June 2026

Definition of disagreeable

Adjective

Look the steady coarsening of American civic and political culture and the ways in which the once-outrageous—the bilious, hateful rhetoric and the creeping authoritarianism—have become almost ordinary.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 July 2026
Minaj’s bilious flurry is possibly related to claims that she is owed between $100 to 200 million related to her stake in Tidal, the music streaming service launched and spearheaded by Jay-Z in 2015 and was sold to Jack Dorsey’s company Square for $297 million in 2021.

— Andrew Flanagan, Variety, 15 Oct. 2025

Definition of bilious

Adjective

In the show, Kyle Chandler plays Hal Jordan, an ornery Green Lantern who is begrudgingly training his upstart protégé (Aaron Pierre).

— Jordan Moreau, Variety, 16 July 2026
Leach also would publicly call out his players and could get ornery when questioned about his team’s shortcomings.

— Ralph D. Russo, New York Times, 2 June 2026

Definition of ornery

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.

Browse Nearby Words

ill-favored

ill-humored

illiberal

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“Ill-humored.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ill-humored. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of ill-humored

adjective

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