ILL-NATURED Synonyms: 83 Similar and Opposite Words

ill-natured

adjective

ˈil-ˈnā-chərd

Definition of ill-natured

as in irritable

having or showing a habitually bad temper an ill-natured and unpleasant old horse that sometimes bites

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of ill-natured Annalise, the most ill-natured guest to embark on the Bravado since the legendary Carlos, complains about the absence of truffles (not in season) on her pasta. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 20 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ill-natured

Adjective

Coach There’s no better feeling than walking into your last show of the day, irritable and hungry, only to discover that snacks are being served.

— Anna Grace Lee, Vogue, 17 Sep. 2026
If a relative or housemate seems irritable, ask what’s going on instead of working around the mood.

— Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of irritable

Adjective

To argue that calling them immigrants is technically wrong is like getting angry at people who don’t pronounce Los Feliz the Spanish way.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
Sheriff Rick Ramsay said Monday that the father later told detectives that Lopez was angry that prosecutors didn’t offer him any plea deals, so his son planned to leave the country rather than face conviction.

— David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of angry

Adjective

Mistaking being disagreeable with the act of disagreeing is common - especially in unsafe psychological workplaces.

— Kate Wieczorek, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
There are also a lot of people who have never dreamed of being disagreeable in public, much less considered joining a raucous social movement.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 12 June 2026

Definition of disagreeable

Adjective

Ready to Wear, the bilious bomb of a film in which Robert Altman took aim at the fashion industry with an elephant gun—and missed.

— Charles Gandee, Vogue, 27 Sep. 2026
Look the steady coarsening of American civic and political culture and the ways in which the once-outrageous—the bilious, hateful rhetoric and the creeping authoritarianism—have become almost ordinary.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 July 2026

Definition of bilious

Adjective

Still, the internet nurtures these Hobbesian, splenetic views.

— Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 24 May 2026
Meanwhile, the commentator and controversialist Piers Morgan, an obsessively close observer and relentless critic of Meghan, inevitably waded in with his usual splenetic views.

— Sarah Lyall, New York Times, 17 Sep. 2022

Definition of splenetic

Adjective

Once upon a time, the idea that the world was growing stupider was mostly confined to the realm of dyspeptic reactionary polemic.

— James Marriott, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2026
Govan might prevail on Lucas to join as well, as an idiosyncratic and dyspeptic if public-minded voice.

— Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of dyspeptic

Adjective

But however janky, the system just about works for the ornery menfolk muddling their way through it, with their many beefs mostly resolved with a bottle of lethally alcoholic local tipple chacha, or a punch to the face, or both.

— Jessica Kiang, Variety, 16 Sep. 2026
The new movie follows a benevolent ex-pilot named Hig (Jacob Elordi) who, after losing his wife during a catastrophic global pandemic, lives out in the wilderness with his dog, Jasper, and ornery isolationist pal Bangley (Josh Brolin).

— Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of ornery

Browse Nearby Words

ill-mannered

ill-natured

ill-naturedly

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“Ill-natured.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ill-natured. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of ill-natured

adjective

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