as in irritable
having or showing a habitually bad temper
an ill-tempered cat will scratch with little provocation
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Recent Examples of ill-tempered
The president was depicted similarly to South Park’s depiction of Saddam Hussein in its 1999 feature-length movie, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut: ill-tempered, conniving and cruel.
—
Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 24 July 2025
Speaking with candor, Russell immediately addresses Kilmer’s reputation for being ill-tempered on set early in his career.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2025
On balance, however, Billy Wagner, an imposing 6-foot-6 and 275 pounds, came off as brash and blustery, foul-mouthed and ill-tempered in witness testimony.
—Patricia Gallagher Newberry, The Enquirer, 12 Dec. 2024
Lemon's interview with Musk delves into numerous topics, ranging from the entrepreneur's views on race to X's loss of advertisers over his antisemitic comments, with Musk growing increasingly ill-tempered with Lemon over the course of the discussion.
—Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 18 Mar. 2024
If the person in charge is ill-tempered, thrives on conflict, and easily persuaded, problems are made worse.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 27 May 2023
Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 24 July 2025
Speaking with candor, Russell immediately addresses Kilmer’s reputation for being ill-tempered on set early in his career.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2025
On balance, however, Billy Wagner, an imposing 6-foot-6 and 275 pounds, came off as brash and blustery, foul-mouthed and ill-tempered in witness testimony.
—Patricia Gallagher Newberry, The Enquirer, 12 Dec. 2024
Lemon's interview with Musk delves into numerous topics, ranging from the entrepreneur's views on race to X's loss of advertisers over his antisemitic comments, with Musk growing increasingly ill-tempered with Lemon over the course of the discussion.
—Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 18 Mar. 2024
If the person in charge is ill-tempered, thrives on conflict, and easily persuaded, problems are made worse.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 27 May 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ill-tempered
Adjective
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Rather than get irritable online, Medeiros did something positive about it.—
Dan Medeiros,
The Herald News,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Manic episodes are described as prolonged periods of mood instability, in which a person can experience extreme increases in energy or euphoria, or alternatively, feel depressed or unusually irritable.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Burkle alleges that Anderson stopped paying him in 2014 after becoming angry with him over an unspecified personal dispute, the complaint states.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
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Our tormentor is angry the state chose Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 and has not met his demands to stop mail-in voting and release his supporter and fellow election denier Tina Peters from prison.—
Krista Kafer,
Denver Post,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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High pop flys in left field during day games at the club’s spring ballpark have proven at times to be a cantankerous venture.—
Shawn McFarland,
Dallas Morning News,
22 Feb. 2026
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Close leads the series as Maud Oldcastle, an older woman described as cantankerous and also a killer.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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With two adults, three children, and one ornery cat living in the same house, keeping track of everyone’s stuff can sometimes seem overwhelming.—
Libby Monteith Minor,
Southern Living,
21 Feb. 2026
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But Duvall rose to prominence the next decade, first as the ornery Major Frank Burns in the 1970 antiwar comedy M*A*S*H, reuniting with Robert Altman, who’d previously cast him in 1967’s Countdown.—
Tim Grierson,
Rolling Stone,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The day was cold and disagreeable, disappointing those who hoped for warm, sunny weather for the contest between Bogardus and Carver.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
24 Feb. 2026
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This will also result in a disagreeable flavor most people will not enjoy.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
12 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Better is Danny Elfman’s spartan and fraught score, particularly the dyspeptic drums.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Jan. 2026
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But Kael sensed in her less dyspeptic moments that there was something special about Redford.—
Stephen Galloway,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The actor, who portrays surly Russian hockey captain Ilya Rozanov in the show, is in no way, shape or form Russian, and learned to speak the language rather flawlessly in just three weeks before filming.—
Dan Heching,
CNN Money,
28 Feb. 2026
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The booms from the ice cracking sounded like a chorus of slamming doors, as if Poseidon had hundreds of surly teenagers living underwater with him.—
Robert Annis,
Outside,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Ill-tempered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ill-tempered. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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