ornery
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ornery
- /ˈɔːnəɹi/ UK
- /ˈɔːnɹi/ UK
- /ˈɔɹnəɹi/ US
- /ˈɔɹnɹi/ US
- /ˈɔnɹi/ US
Where it comes from
A contracted or dialectal pronunciation of ordinary. Sense 3 (“ordinary, commonplace”) was the earliest sense; the meaning of the word then shifted to “inferior, plain-looking, unpleasant”—presumably due to ordinariness—and finally to sense 1 (“disagreeable, stubborn, and troublesome to deal with”).
adjective ornerier · orneriest · onery · onry · o'n'ry · ornary
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Disagreeable, stubborn, and troublesome to deal with; cantankerous.
Seemingly here was an intruder who was violating custom. Moreover, the partners had come to look upon this exceedingly rich district as their exclusive property. And so their indignation was extreme. "The low-down, ornery cuss!" said Dobbs. "The nerve of him, crowdin' in on us, just as if there wasn
Similar: contrary, crabby, cross-grained, crotchety, honery, ill-tempered, intractable, obnoxious, obstreperous, peevish, stroppy, unsociable
-
Troublesome to deal with in a good way; mischievous, prankish, teasing.
Similar: full of the devil
- Ordinary, commonplace; hence, inferior, plain-looking, unpleasant.
Translations
Talk about this word "ornery." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ornery. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. ornery. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ornery "ornery." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ornery.Cite this
@misc{ornery_2026,
title = {ornery},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ornery},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
