atrabilious
Americanadjective
-
gloomy; morose; melancholy; morbid.
-
irritable; bad-tempered; splenetic.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- atrabiliousness noun
Etymology
Origin of atrabilious
1645–55; < Latin ātra bīli ( s ) black bile + -ous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Eliphalet borrowed money, his habiliments grew shabby, he took up mean callings for the sake of pelf, he became a spunge; he grew bilious, atrabilious, patriotic and indignant.
From Project Gutenberg
After his conversion he made amends, though he was always the atrabilious faultfinder.
From Project Gutenberg
The melancholy or atrabilious temperament is of a different character.
From Project Gutenberg
The one truly successful film of this period is Mike Nichols's version of Edward Albee's , where a middle-aged academic couple tear each other apart in a manner reminiscent of Strindberg at his most atrabilious.
From The Guardian
His sallow, atrabilious features disclosed the tortures of his soul.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
