orneriness
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈɔrnərnəs/
- Informal
:
terquedad
- Do you think if I gave myself an out with your father, given his orneriness and his deafness, that I wouldn't have taken it years ago?
- more orneriness
Examples
-
Then he learns the orneriness that lurks beneath.
-
"Personally, I always find orneriness helps."
Fiction book (1992) -
Her eyes hold an orneriness that none can compare with.
Blog text (27) -
He felt his orneriness kicking in.
Fiction book (1998) -
And orneriness.
Fiction book (1992) -
She had a face that would have been beautiful if it weren't marred by toughness, by an orneriness that made her look as though she might turn her head and spit on the floor at any moment.
Fiction book (1997) -
You were so quiet on the other end, with overtones of downright orneriness: to be congratulated, I suppose, for not actually snarling, but I was shaken because of the business about "the guy who is sun and moon and stars to me seems to have just turned himself off: he almost sounds as though he thought I were boiled.
Fiction book (1997) -
Her orneriness often made it difficult for her friends to enjoy their time together.
-
The child's orneriness was evident when he stubbornly refused to eat his vegetables.
-
His constant orneriness created an atmosphere of tension at the workplace.
Synonyms
8
4.2
Being easily annoyed or quick to become angry
3
7.6
Refusing to change your mind or actions even when others ask you to
3
6.0
Being easily annoyed and acting in odd, fussy ways
3
8.5
A way of behaving that is mean and hurtful to other people
3
4.1
A feeling of being easily annoyed
1
7.3
A feeling of being easily annoyed and quick to lose patience
1
7.9
Being stubborn and refusing to change your mind
1
6.6
A rough, unfriendly way of speaking or acting
1
9.9
A stubborn attitude of refusing to do what others want
1
8.6
Rude, unfriendly behavior that makes other people feel unwelcome
1
5.5
A mood of being easily annoyed and bad-tempered
1
9.3
A tendency to become angry quickly
1
4.0
A feeling of anger and bitterness after a disagreement
A stubborn, often unreasonable refusal to change your mind
The quality of being stubborn and not caring about others
A habit of being bad-tempered and hard to get along with
A quality of being unpleasant and hard to get along with that makes people avoid you
A rude, spiteful way of speaking that uses mean, cutting remarks
A consistently unfriendly and angry way of acting
Often being bad-tempered and hard to please
A person who gets annoyed easily and is hard to get along with
A harsh, unfriendly manner that hurts or upsets people
Antonyms
How Ornery
147
4.7
21
3.6
- Informal
1
9.9
8
4.2
1
7.3
1
5.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Orneriness comes from the American slang ornery, which began as a dialect form of ordinary meaning 'common' or 'plain'. Over time ornery changed to mean 'stubborn' or 'bad-tempered', so orneriness is the state of being difficult or disagreeable.