ornery C2+ Topic:Describing People US /ˈɔrnəri/ UK /ˈɔːnəri/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj bad-tempered, stubborn, and difficult to deal with The ornery old mule refused to move no matter how hard they pulled. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · bad-tempered, stubborn, and... cantankerousirritablestubborncrankygrouchycontrarycrotchetymean ↔ Opposites agreeableamiablegood-natureddocilecheerful Word family Forms orneriest Derived forms orneriness Related forms ordinary Etymology AI details A 19th-century American dialectal alteration of 'ordinary', originally meaning 'commonplace, of poor quality', later shifting to 'mean-tempered, stubborn'. ordinarius la-med View etymology graph -> Topics Describing People Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # ornery **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˈɔrnəri/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈɔːnəri/ ## Meanings 1. bad-tempered, stubborn, and difficult to deal with ## Examples - The ornery old mule refused to move no matter how hard they pulled. ## Synonyms - cantankerous - irritable - stubborn - cranky - grouchy - contrary - crotchety - mean ## Antonyms - agreeable - amiable - good-natured - docile - cheerful ## Derived Forms - orneriness ## Related Forms - ordinary ## Roots and Affixes - Root: ordinarius ## Etymology A 19th-century American dialectal alteration of 'ordinary', originally meaning 'commonplace, of poor quality', later shifting to 'mean-tempered, stubborn'. ## AI Etymology Ornery is a 19th-century American dialectal alteration of 'ordinary', originally meaning 'commonplace, of poor quality', later shifting to 'mean-tempered, stubborn'. Important recorded forms include ordinarius (Latin). Morphologically, the ending or combining element turns the older base into the present English part of speech. The modern sense follows that older lexical line closely. In current use it covers bad-tempered, stubborn, and difficult to deal with. The wider family includes derived forms such as orneriness and related words such as ordinary. ## Topics - Describing People - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown