irascible
Americanadjective
-
easily provoked to anger; very irritable.
an irascible old man.
- Synonyms:
- short-tempered, choleric, peppery, touchy, testy
- Antonyms:
- even-tempered, calm
-
characterized or produced by anger.
an irascible response.
- Synonyms:
- short-tempered, choleric, peppery, touchy, testy
- Antonyms:
- even-tempered, calm
adjective
-
easily angered; irritable
-
showing irritability
an irascible action
Related Words
See irritable.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of irascible
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English irascibel from Late Latin īrāscibilis, equivalent to Latin īrāsc- (stem of īrāscī “to grow angry”; equivalent to īr(a) ire + -ā- theme vowel + -sc- inchoative suffix + -ī infinitive ending; see -esce) + -ibilis -ible
Explanation
If you're irascible, you get angry easily — perhaps blowing up in rage when someone brushes into you. Irascible comes from the Latin root ira, which means "anger" or "rage," the same root that gives us the word ire, "anger." The -sc in the middle of irascible, means "becoming," so irascible doesn't just mean you're angry — it's got action built into it. If you're looking for a fight most of the time, then you're irascible — ready for the spark that's going to set you on fire.
Vocabulary lists containing irascible
To Kill a Mockingbird
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In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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Negative Words to Describe a Person
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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.
“All In the Family” signposted its main character’s irascible bigotry and generation-gap grievances in the first minute by having its main character sing wistfully of a time when “Guys like me we had it made.”
From Salon • Apr. 25, 2026
Ms. Jackson is no apologist—her James has flaws aplenty—but where prior historians offered snide caricature, she portrays a complex leader who was “intelligent, resilient, idiosyncratic, irascible, guileful and witty.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025
"We love him. He was intrepid, he was funny, he was gruff, he was irascible, he was beautiful."
From BBC • May 5, 2024
The club identifies, correctly, as a titan, and — under Pérez’s stewardship, in particular — it has taken great pride in living the values associated with the classical definition of that term: impetuous, impulsive, irascible.
From New York Times • Apr. 5, 2024
Colonel Cathcart stared down at it with an irascible scowl.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
