as in irritable
having or showing a habitually bad temper
a bilious old dog who snaps at everyone
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of bilious
Color is a bilious miasma, golden tones sliding into flashes of brightness that collapse into queasy hues.
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Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2023
The role of the cranky academic could easily be a stock character, but Giamatti invests the role with bilious wit as well as a few fleeting glimpses of vulnerability.
—Stephen Farber, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
The only act that still holds our attention is deranged Trump, the bilious conspiracy theorist immortalized in Sarah Cooper videos.
—Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 28 Aug. 2020
Here, he’s played with the right level of bilious discomfort by Paul Giamatti, and the writing-directing team Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini center him in a self-aware biopic, one that humorously wonders why such a resolute curmudgeon became a minor American celebrity in the 1980s.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2022
See all Example Sentences for bilious 
Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2023
The role of the cranky academic could easily be a stock character, but Giamatti invests the role with bilious wit as well as a few fleeting glimpses of vulnerability.
—Stephen Farber, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
The only act that still holds our attention is deranged Trump, the bilious conspiracy theorist immortalized in Sarah Cooper videos.
—Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 28 Aug. 2020
Here, he’s played with the right level of bilious discomfort by Paul Giamatti, and the writing-directing team Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini center him in a self-aware biopic, one that humorously wonders why such a resolute curmudgeon became a minor American celebrity in the 1980s.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2022
See all Example Sentences for bilious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bilious
Adjective
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Screw that shouty guy in the street, and screw that irritable homeowner and enemy of dogs.James Parker, The Atlantic, 24 Dec. 2024
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To avoid wallowing in their pity and reassurances, the women recite their own medical ailments (hyperthyroidism, gallstones, diabetes, irritable bowel) and promise to be there for each other.Sara Netzley, EW.com, 19 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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When customers are angry, representatives by nature are likely to get defensive.Tomas Gorny, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024
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Watching his massive bank of video screens with the angry mob clashing with the Raiders, there seems to be more than a hint of veracity to that intriguing statement.Jeff Spry, Space.com, 23 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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And while there is enough splenetic wit and manic detail to generate obsessive fandom (entire sections of Web sites are dedicated to deciphering just what Kenny is mumbling), subjects like alien abduction, genetic engineering, and Kathie Lee are hardly original targets for satire.Chris Norris, SPIN, 13 Aug. 2022
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Meanwhile, the commentator and controversialist Piers Morgan, an obsessively close observer and relentless critic of Meghan, inevitably waded in with his usual splenetic views.Sarah Lyall, New York Times, 17 Sep. 2022
Adjective
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Since azaleas are acid soil-loving plants, pine needles, aged pine bark, or leaf mold are ideal mulches.Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 19 Dec. 2024
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Last year, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality fined Intel for failing to control air emissions of acid gases at its Hillsboro chip production facility.Arlene Blum, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Sometimes that means confronting disagreeable people.David Plazas, The Tennessean, 24 Apr. 2024
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The most important reason to avoid obsessing over China’s disagreeable regime, however, is that this fixation threatens a core U.S. advantage: Washington’s wide network of partners and allies.Evan S. Medeiros, Foreign Affairs, 8 July 2021
Adjective
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Carrey portrays Ebenezer Scrooge, a cantankerous, greedy old man who is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve who show him the error of his ways.Keith Langston, People.com, 14 Dec. 2024
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The endearing homecoming introduces new characters including Moni (Hualalai Chung), a passionate island bard; Loto (Rose Matafeo), a quirky shipwright; Kele (David Fane), a cantankerous farmer; and Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), Moana’s tenacious younger sister.Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The offensive line, in Monken’s estimation, is the most talented and possibly most ornery unit he’s had at West Point, all the way down to wrestling each other to settle arguments about who’s tougher.Brian Hamilton, The Athletic, 21 Nov. 2024
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They’re led by John Dutton III, an ornery character who nevertheless carries the kind of gravitas that only a veteran movie star like Kevin Costner can bring.Noel Murray, Vulture, 18 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near bilious
Cite this Entry
“Bilious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bilious. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
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