ill-natured

American  

[il-ney-cherd] / ˈɪlˈneɪ tʃərd /

adjective

1. having or showing an unkindly or unpleasant disposition.

   Synonyms:

   sour, gloomy, morose, sulky, petulant, cranky

   Antonyms:

   amiable, kindly

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ill-natured British  

adjective

1. naturally unpleasant and mean

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Related Words

See cross.

Other Word Forms

• ill-naturedly adverb
• ill-naturedness noun

Etymology

Origin of ill-natured

First recorded in 1625–35

Explanation

Someone who's ill-natured is cranky and disagreeable. Most fairy tales have at least one ill-natured antagonist, an evil stepmother or a ferocious ogre. Mean and nasty people are sometimes just plain ill-natured — it's not in their nature to be generous and cheerful. Your ill-natured cat probably scratches anyone who tries to pet her. Bad kitty. This unfriendly adjective combines ill-, "badly" or "not well," with natured, from nature and its "innate disposition" meaning. The Latin root is natura, "natural character or quality."

Example Sentences

Jackson has given the British thesp a horrible long-haired comb-over that serves to signpost the character's tricksy, ill-natured temperament.

From The Guardian • Mar. 25, 2013

Catching us wondering how Mr Palmer in Sense and Sensibility, an intelligent but ill-natured man, could possibly have married a woman as idiotic as Charlotte Jennings, Austen lets Elinor reflect on the puzzle.

From The Guardian • May 18, 2012

Sting, another artist who endures any amount of ill-natured, ad hominem criticism, has sold well over 50m records.

From The Guardian • Sep. 18, 2010

When Falconer arrived in England Judy was whisked off to a farm in the country, where she was made the slavey of an ill-natured old nurse who treated her like a moral leper.

From Time Magazine Archive

His marriage was now fast approaching, and she was at length so far resigned as to think it inevitable, and even repeatedly to say, in an ill-natured tone, that she “wished they might be happy.”

From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen