irascible
English
WOTD – 8 August 2008
Etymology
From French irascible, from Late Latin īrāscibilis.
Adjective
irascible (comparative more irascible, superlative most irascible)
- Easily provoked to outbursts of anger; irritable.
- 1809, Washington Irving, Knickerbocker's History of New York, ch. 16:
- . . . the surly and irascible passions which, like belligerent powers, lie encamped around the heart.
- 1863, Louisa May Alcott, Hospital Sketches, ch. 1:
- I am naturally irascible, and if I could have shaken this negative gentleman vigorously, the relief would have been immense.
- 1921, William Butler Yeats, Four Years, ch. 10:
- . . . a never idle man of great physical strength and extremely irascible—did he not fling a badly baked plum pudding through the window upon Xmas Day?
- 2004 Feb. 29, Daniel Kadlec, "Why He's Meanspan," Time:
- Alan Greenspan was on an irascible roll last week, first dissing everyone who holds a fixed-rate mortgage — suckers! — and later picking on folks who collect Social Security: Get back to work, Grandma.
- 1809, Washington Irving, Knickerbocker's History of New York, ch. 16:
Synonyms
Related terms
Terms etymologically related to irascible
Translations
prone to anger
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French
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin īrāscibilis, from īrāscor (“grow angry”), from īra (“anger”)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /i.ʁa.sibl/
Related terms
Further reading
- “irascible” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Spanish
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