Ornery

Word: Ornery

Etymology: 1816, Amer.Eng. dialectal contraction of ordinary. "Commonplace," hence "of poor quality, coarse, ugly." By c.1860 the sense had evolved to "mean, cantankerous."

Definition: If you refer to someone as ornery, you mean that they are bad-tempered, difficult, and often do things that are mean. They are also uncooperative and irritable.

Sentence: The old lady was still being ornery, but at least she had consented to this visit.

TanXinYuNigel_1-3_(30)