atrabilious


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at·ra·bil·ious

 (ăt′rə-bĭl′yəs) also at·ra·bil·i·ar (-bĭl′ē-ər)
adj.
1. Inclined to melancholy.
2. Having a peevish disposition; surly.
[From Latin ātra bīlis, black bile (translation of Greek melankhōliā) : ātra, black; see āter- in Indo-European roots + bīlis, bile.]
at′ra·bil′ious·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

atrabilious

(ˌætrəˈbɪljəs) or

atrabiliar

adj
rare irritable
[C17: from Latin ātra bīlis black bile, from āter black + bīlis bile1]
ˌatraˈbiliousness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

at•ra•bil•ious

(ˌæ trəˈbɪl yəs)

also at`ra•bil′iar,



adj.
1. gloomy; morose; melancholy; morbid.
2. irritable; bad-tempered; splenetic.
[1645–55; < Latin ātra bīli(s) black bile + -ous]
at`ra•bil′ious•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.atrabilious - irritable as if suffering from indigestionatrabilious - irritable as if suffering from indigestion
dyspeptic, liverish, bilious
ill-natured - having an irritable and unpleasant disposition
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
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So many of the writers I admire ended their lives in despair or dyspepsia, atrabilious old men cursing the coming darkness and recalling their salad days as an Eden of freethought and jollity.
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And it is this down-to-earthness that I hope informs the main tenor of my poetry--a language that deals with the atrabilious nature of our existence as well as the emotional weight of its beauty.
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This insight may offer an exit from the dead-end dichotomy that finds Herodotos either overly credulous in or impervious to traditional Olympian feats in the atrabilious manner of a modern monotheist or atheist.
Emily Baragwanath and Mathieu De Bakker (eds.), Myth, Truth, and Narrative in Herodotus
humor, the phlegm humor, the bilious humor and the atrabilious humor.
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