ORNERY Synonyms: 83 Similar and Opposite Words

ornery

adjective

ˈȯr-nə-rē

Definition of ornery

as in irritable

having or showing a habitually bad temper an ornery old man who always yells at the neighborhood kids to keep off his lawn

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of ornery For ornery toddlers, who want to do everything themselves, Rao suggests giving them their own toothbrush to use while parents brush their teeth with a second one right alongside them. — Sarah Lindenfeld Hall, Popular Science, 11 Mar. 2026 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 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 This bag is a high-capacity workhorse, with plenty of organization features, tough materials that can handle ornery baggage handlers, and smooth-rolling wheels for pain-free airport navigation. — Outside, 12 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for ornery

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ornery

Adjective

The product immediately calmed down my irritable, rosacea-prone skin while delivering intense hydration that lasted all day.

— Gina Vaynshteyn, StyleCaster, 31 Aug. 2026
How skipping breakfast affects kids at school Nemours KidsHealth reports that kids who miss the morning meal often feel tired, restless or irritable by midmorning.

— Ashley Lynch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of irritable

Adjective

Much of the work is also focused on building guardrails to protect clients from lawsuits — coming from business partners, local officials, or angry neighbors — in an industry that has an increasingly visible target on its back.

— Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2026
Though nothing about the current situation is ideal, there’s no clear way to hop off without ensuring certain doom at the hands of a large, angry cat.

— Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of angry

Adjective

Beneath the song's upbeat melody and the movie's cantankerous humor, both deliver a powerful message that women deserve equal pay and treatment in the workplace.

— Kamaron McNair, CNBC, 26 Aug. 2026
Slow Horses stars Oldman as Lamb, a brilliant but cantankerous leader of dysfunctional spies who have made career-ending mistakes and end up at a dumping ground MI5 unit known as Slough House.

— Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of cantankerous

Adjective

The Jordan that the audience gets to know is a bit surly and self-centered.

— Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2026
Back at the dilapidated family home, Edgar grows even surlier, lashing into gentle-natured Joe for being an under-achiever compared to his brother and causing Thya to become apprehensive about Ed’s proximity to sharp objects.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026

Definition of surly

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

Mistaking being disagreeable with the act of disagreeing is common - especially in unsafe psychological workplaces.

— Kate Wieczorek, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
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

Definition of disagreeable

Browse Nearby Words

orneriness

ornery

orotund

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“Ornery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ornery. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of ornery

adjective

Example Sentences

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