Ornery meaning

English Dictionary.

Readers who are familiar with one of the more common senses of ornery "irritable" might well be surprised to learn that the word is an alteration of the word ordinary , as this root word has little to do with feelings of peevishness. Yet this is the case, and there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for how this meaning came about. Ornery was first used in American regional speech in the beginning of the 19th century as a simple variant of ordinary , and for some while it had the same meaning. Soon enough, however, it began to take on some of the more negative aspects of ordinary. It was used to describe things that were common, and especially common things of inferior quality.

Ornery meaning

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective ornery. Etymons: ordinary adj. Sign in with library card. Sign in as administrator on Oxford Academic. Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into ornery, adj. Please include your email address if you are happy to be contacted about your feedback. OUP will not use this email address for any other purpose. Skip to main content. Dictionary Historical Thesaurus. What does the adjective ornery mean? This word is used in North American English.

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Add to word list Add to word list. He had been in an ornery mood all day , arguing with everyone who got in his way. Synonyms cantankerous. Examples of ornery. This important insight illuminates and explains responses and behavior that otherwise seem peculiar, ornery , or perverse. From the Cambridge English Corpus.

Forget doing it or forget to do it? Avoiding common mistakes with verb patterns 2. Add to word list Add to word list. He had been in an ornery mood all day , arguing with everyone who got in his way. Synonyms cantankerous. Examples of ornery. This important insight illuminates and explains responses and behavior that otherwise seem peculiar, ornery , or perverse. From the Cambridge English Corpus.

Ornery meaning

Accessed 8 Mar. Nglish: Translation of ornery for Spanish Speakers. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! See Definitions and Examples ». Log In. Definition of ornery. Articles Related to ornery. See if you can tell the insults from the compliments.

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Example from the Hansard archive. He was often described as having grown more ornery with age. Log In. Dictionary Historical Thesaurus. Love words? Articles Related to ornery. From the Cambridge English Corpus. Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes. Portuguese English to Portuguese. By the end of the 19th century ornery had taken on its now-common meaning of "cantankerous. Grammar English Easy Learning Grammar. First recorded in —; contraction of ordinary. Earlier versions of ornery, adj. Teaching Resources.

Forget doing it or forget to do it? Avoiding common mistakes with verb patterns 2.

Examples of 'ornery' in a sentence ornery. Italian grammar. These angels are demonic and ornery and concerned that their error be found out. Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content:. First recorded in —; contraction of ordinary. The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The crowd was getting ornery. Send us feedback about these examples. Hindi English to Hindi. With a roast apple in his snout, and a ribbon—a blue—no, a pink ribbon decorating his ornery little tail. Get Word of the Day daily email! Quiz Italian confusables.