atrabilious
9.9
Being easily angry or often gloomy
- adjective
- /ˌætrəˈbɪliəs/
- Archaic
:
atrabilioso
- Her atrabilious nature often led her to withdraw from social gatherings, preferring solitude over company.
Examples
-
Despite the sunny weather, his atrabilious demeanor cast a shadow over the picnic.
-
The atrabilious maladies to which artists were supposedly vulnerable included lovesickness and plague.
Academic text (2004) -
After losing the game, John felt increasingly atrabilious, snapping at everyone around him.
Synonyms
24
5.4
Feeling easily annoyed and in a bad mood
is an enduring irritability or gloom in temperament rather than a short mood
ill-tempered
vsatrabilious
4
5.7
Easily annoyed and quick to get angry
is also marked by a persistent gloomy mood alongside the irritability
2
9.1
Having an upset stomach or being bad-tempered
is more about a lasting gloomy temperament than illness causing the irritability
1
8.7
Being bad-tempered and easily annoyed
is mainly a mood trait and includes gloominess rather than physical cause
9.9
Feeling a little sick and grumpy, often after eating rich food
is an enduring irritable or gloomy temperament not mainly explained by sickness
Antonyms
How Gloomy
Surface Forms
atrabilious positive
Morphology
Etymology
Atrabilious comes from the old Latin words atra 'black' and bilis 'bile'. People long ago thought too much 'black bile' made someone gloomy or quick to anger, so atrabilious now means gloomy or easily angry, like the word bilious.