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ornery

 - 3 dictionary results

or⋅ner⋅y

  [awr-nuh-ree]
–adjective, -ner⋅i⋅er, -ner⋅i⋅est. Dialect.
1. ugly and unpleasant in disposition or temper: No one can get along with my ornery cousin.
2. stubborn: I can't do a thing with that ornery mule.
3. low or vile.
4. inferior or common; ordinary.
Use ornery in a Sentence
Origin:
1790–1800; contr. of ordinary

Related forms:
or⋅ner⋅i⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. mean, ill-tempered, ill-natured, surly, testy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To ornery
or·ner·y   (ôr'nə-rē)   
adj.   or·ner·i·er, or·ner·i·est
Mean-spirited, disagreeable, and contrary in disposition; cantankerous.

[Alteration of ordinary.]
or'ner·i·ness' n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ornery 
1816, Amer.Eng. dialectal contraction of ordinary. "Commonplace," hence "of poor quality, coarse, ugly." By c.1860 the sense had evolved to "mean, cantankerous."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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