cross as a bear

Idioms  

1. Grumpy, ill-humored, annoyed, as in Stay away from Claire; she's cross as a bear this morning. Unlike the earlier cross as two stocks, this survives even though the adjective cross for “ill-tempered” is otherwise not used much in America. It is sometimes amplified as cross as a bear with a sore head. [Early 1700s]

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Example Sentences

I can't think what's got into Sharley," complained her mother; "she has been as cross as a bear this good while.

From Men, Women, and Ghosts by Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart

I meant to do my duty by him, though he is as cross as a bear with a bruised head.

From For Woman's Love by Southworth, Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte

You see, I have been with two people, both of whom looked as grave as judges, and one of them as cross as a bear; and yet they were both first-rate fellows.

From Held Fast For England A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar (1779-83) by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)

"He's always wanting something to eat, and he's cross as a bear."

From A Texas Ranger by Raine, William MacLeod

Bevis was as cross as a bear, and Mark would not conciliate him, not seeing that he had given him the least reason.

From Bevis The Story of a Boy by Jefferies, Richard