Word of the Day Archive
Monday January 19, 2004
bilious \BIL-yuhs\ , adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to bile.
2. Marked by an excess secretion of bile.
3. Pertaining to, characterized by, or affected by gastric distress caused by a disorder of the liver.
4. Appearing as if affected by such a disorder.
5. Resembling bile, especially in color.
6. Of a peevish disposition; ill-tempered.
Most arresting of all, his normally gray elephant hide has changed to a bilious shade of green.
-- Ellen Handler Spitz, Inside Picture Books
Warm and diplomatic in manner, devoted to his wife and sons, Rich at 52 fits the stereotype of the bilious, bitter critic in only one particular: He didn't have a happy childhood.
-- Judith Newmark, "Theater Expert Fears 'The Bottom Will Drop Out' For Broadway", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 25, 2001
The field here on my right belongs to Knemon,
a human lacking in humanity,
bilious toward everyone, detesting crowds.
-- Menander, The Grouch (translated by Sheila D'Atri)
I know of friends and colleagues who have received death threats and bilious ventings from angry and sometimes deranged strangers.
-- Peter Wood, "You've Got (Hate) Mail", National Review, July 30, 2001
Bilious derives from Latin biliosus, from bilis, "bile."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for bilious
