1 a : having an irritable disposition : cantankerous an ornery old man Telling her that would have been an invitation to getting my head chopped off, because she was a mean, ornery number until the day she died. — John Gregory Dunne

ornery adjective Definition of ornery as in irritable having or showing a habitually bad temper an ornery old man who always yells at the neighborhood kids to keep off his lawn Synonyms & Similar Words Relevance irritable angry cantankerous surly disagreeable bilious dyspeptic splenetic exasperated acid ill-tempered mad ill-humored ill-natured