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

Passenger Levine was particularly subjected to ill-natured criticism.

From Time Magazine Archive

Snape had his wand out and was blasting rosebushes apart, his expression most ill-natured.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling