Ill Temper

ill temper

bad temper; irritability

Ill Temper

(See also ANGRINESS.)

get up on the wrong side of the bed To be grouchy, peevish, or ill-tempered. Most probably this is another holdover from ancient superstitions associating the right side with good omens and fortune, the left with evil and ill luck. The transference to temperament and mode of arising is centuries old:

Thou rose not on thy right side, or else blest thee not well. (Gammer Gurton, 1575)

have a worm in one’s tongue To be quarrelsome or dyspeptic; to be irritable or grouchy. Dogs suffering from worms are unfriendly and disagreeable just as one with a figurative “wormy” tongue is spiteful and surly. This obsolete expression was used by Samuel Butler in Upon Modern Critics:

There is one easy artifice

That seldom has been known to miss—

To snarl at all things right or wrong,

Like a mad dog that has a worm in ’s tongue.

like a bear with a sore head Irritable, peevish; in a disagreeable mood. The analogy here is self-evident:

He grumbles and growls like a bear with a sore head. (John Davis, Travels, 1803)

This phrase seems to have been shortened at some point to the more common sorehead.

out of sorts Irritable, short-tempered; low-spirited, depressed; under the weather, slightly unhealthy. The origin of this expression is unknown. Some speculate that it derives from the literal typographical out of sorts meaning ‘out of type.’ Only a considerable stretch of the imagination renders this explanation plausible. Out of sorts has been popular since the early 17th century.

He was extremely out of sorts because there was some company in the room who did not please him. (Madame D’Arblay, The Early Diary of Frances Burney, 1775)

This expression can also refer to things and situations, implying that something is amiss or not functioning properly.

serpent’s tongue A shrewish disposition; a tendency toward vicious, vitriolic speech marked by scathing sarcasm. This expression appeared in Shakespeare’s Midsu mmer Night’s Dream (V, i):

Now to scape the Serpent’s tongue, We will make amends ere long.

This phrase, clearly referring to a snake’s forked, venomous tongue, was frequently employed in 18th-and 19th-century poetry.

She is not old, she is not young,
This woman with the serpent’s tongue.
(Sir William Watson, The Prince’s Quest, 1880)

sorehead A poor loser; one who is disgruntled or dissatisfied. The term seems to be an abbreviated version of the phrase like a bear with a sore head. The current meaning of this word is said to have come into use during the presidential campaign of 1848.

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun

ill temper - a persisting angry mood

bad temper

anger, ire, choler - a strong emotion; a feeling that is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance

irascibility, quick temper, short temper, spleen - a feeling of resentful anger

conniption, fit, tantrum, scene - a display of bad temper; "he had a fit"; "she threw a tantrum"; "he made a scene"

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bad temper bad-tempered black bee conniption crabbed crabbedness crabbiness crabby German bee grouchy grumpy ill-tempered In a fume Jadish marabunta meanly morose nastily old bag	He growled and roared hideously at the dead, insensate thing, and then he dropped it and raised his head to look about in search of some living victim upon which to wreak his ill temper. Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Burroughs, Edgar Rice View in context His mistress is feeling the penalty of having been fool enough to vent her ill temper on her head-waiter. Man And Wife by Collins, Wilkie View in context Foot passengers, jostling one another's umbrellas in a general infection of ill temper, and losing their foot-hold at street-corners, where tens of thousands of other foot passengers have been slipping and sliding since the day broke (if this day ever broke), adding new deposits to the crust upon crust of mud, sticking at those points tenaciously to the pavement, and accumulating at compound interest. Bleak House by Dickens, Charles View in context	iliolumbar artery iliolumbar vein Ilion Iliopsoas Ilium Ilixanthin ilk ilka Ilke Ilkeston Ilkley Ilkon ill ill at ease Ill blood Ill breeding ill fame ill feeling ill health ill humor ill humour ill luck ill nature ill repute ill service Ill Temper ill turn ill will ill-advised ill-affected ill-assorted ill-at-ease ill-behaved ill-being ill-boding ill-bred ill-breeding ill-chosen ill-conceived ill-considered ill-defined ill-disguised ill-disposed ill-dressed ill-equipped ill-famed ill-fated ill-favored ill-favoured ill-fed ill-fitting	ill fame ill favor ill feeling ill feeling ill fortune Ill Gotten Gains ill hap ill health ill health ill humor ill humor ill humour ill humour ill individual ill judgment ill luck ill management Ill Mannered Playas Ill Met by Moonlight ill nature ill nature ill natures ill natures Ill posed Ill Repute Ill Repute Ill river Ill river Ill river ill service Ill Temper ill treat ill treatment ill turn ill turn ill usage ill use ill use ill will ill will ill will Ill Will Records Ill Will Records ill-adapted ill-advised ill-advised ill-advisedly ill-advisedly ill-affected ill-assorted ill-at-ease Ill-awarra Ill-awarra Ill-behaved Ill-behaved Ill-behaved Ill-behaved ill-being ill-boding ill-boding ill-bred

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bad temper
bad-tempered
black bee
conniption
crabbed
crabbedness
crabbiness
crabby
German bee
grouchy
grumpy
ill-tempered
In a fume
Jadish
marabunta
meanly
morose
nastily
old bag

He growled and roared hideously at the dead, insensate thing, and then he dropped it and raised his head to look about in search of some living victim upon which to wreak his ill temper.

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Burroughs, Edgar Rice View in context

His mistress is feeling the penalty of having been fool enough to vent her ill temper on her head-waiter.

Man And Wife by Collins, Wilkie View in context

Foot passengers, jostling one another's umbrellas in a general infection of ill temper, and losing their foot-hold at street-corners, where tens of thousands of other foot passengers have been slipping and sliding since the day broke (if this day ever broke), adding new deposits to the crust upon crust of mud, sticking at those points tenaciously to the pavement, and accumulating at compound interest.

Bleak House by Dickens, Charles View in context