Word of the Day

Wednesday, August 30, 2000

dudgeon

\DUH-juhn\ , noun;

A state or fit of intense indignation; resentment; ill humor -- often used in the phrase "in high dudgeon."

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Quotes:

Higgins was so frustrated by such a basic error that he stormed out of the arena for the mid-session interval in high dudgeon.

-- Phil Yates, "Stevens begins to feel pressure as Swail stages customary revival", Times (London), April 29, 2000

This woman is forever in a state of spiritual high dudgeon, and a list of her dislikes is as long as the Omaha phone book.

-- Jim Harrison, The Road Home

What you see, they reckon, is all there is: a media star of fading allure--and shortening temper, if his dudgeon over a television soap-opera satire about him called "How was I, Doris?" (a reference to his fourth wife) is anything to go by.

-- "Gerhard Schröder, embattled chancellor", The Economist, September 18, 1999

Origin:

The origin of dudgeon is unknown.