ornery

• o'n'ry, onry, onery

Contracted or dialectal pronunciation of ordinary.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɔːnəɹi/, /ˈɔːnɹi/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔːɹnɚi/, /ˈɔːnɹi/

ornery (comparative ornerier, superlative orneriest)

1. (Appalachia) Cantankerous, stubborn, disagreeable.
   • 1922, A. M. Chisholm, A Thousand a Plate:

     Seemingly here was an intruder who was violating custom. Moreover, the partners had come to look upon this exceedingly rich district as their exclusive property. And so their indignation was extreme. / "The low-down, ornery cuss!" said Dobbs. "The nerve of him, crowdin' in on us, just as if there wasn't lots of other places for him to go!"

   • 1939, Dudley Nichols, Stagecoach, spoken by Marshal Curley Wilcox (George Bancroft):

     I ain't sayin' I don't share your sentiments, Buck, but you're a born fool. First place Luke would kill the Kid in a gun-fight. Second place if Luke did get shot he's got two brothers just as ornery as he is, and if Ike Plummer didn't kill the Kid then Hank Plummer would.

   • 2013, Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight, spoken by Jesse (Ethan Hawke):

     after a lifetime of being sweet as pie, once Grandpa died, she got kinda ornery.

   • 2020 May 25, Abby Ellin, “Couples Who Eat Together May Not Stay Together”, in New York Times‎:

     But in many instances, the complainers are not just being ornery; they could have a condition called misophonia, in which one experiences strong negative feelings to specific sounds — like the proverbial nails on a chalkboard.

2. (humorous, Southern US) Mischievous, prankish, teasing, disagreeable but in a good way.
3. (obsolete) Commonplace, inferior.

• ornerily
• orneriness