bad-natured

adjective

bad-na·​tured

: having or showing a disagreeable and unpleasant nature or temperament

He sat and brooded in a bad-natured and slightly drunken way.

—Mary Gaitskill, Bad Behavior, 1988

With voice and gestures, he deftly sketches … the creepy, bad-natured chef, who's sadistic but melts into a puddle of insecurity when his cooking is criticized.

—Holly Johnson, The Oregonian, 17 Apr. 2004

Word History

First Known Use

1871, in the meaning defined above

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