ornery

== English == === Alternative forms === onery, onry, o'n'ry, ornary === Etymology === 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”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɔːnəɹi/, /ˈɔːnɹi/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɔɹnəɹi/, /ˈɔɹnɹi/, /ˈɔnɹi/ Hyphenation: or‧ne‧ry === Adjective === ornery (comparative ornerier, superlative orneriest) (originally and chiefly US, especially Appalachia, informal) Disagreeable, stubborn, and troublesome to deal with; cantankerous. Synonyms: contrary, crabby, cross-grained, crotchety, (US) honery, ill-tempered, intractable, obnoxious, obstreperous, peevish, (slang) stroppy, unsociable (originally Southern US, now general US, humorous, informal) Troublesome to deal with in a good way; mischievous, prankish, teasing. Synonym: full of the devil (obsolete) Ordinary, commonplace; hence, inferior, plain-looking, unpleasant. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References ===