Definition of "ornery" []

• Mean-spirited, disagreeable, and contrary in disposition; cantankerous. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He especially liked the way it called the ornery cloud Fatso."
• "Lady Macbeth says: Wouldst thou have that Which thou call the ornery of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem,"
• "She says the word "ornery" more than it should be used, and when she tells her dog to get down off the couch, the word "down" has a strong, country twang to it."