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Irascible Has an Angry History
If you try to take apart irascible on the model of irrational, irresistible, and irresponsible you might find yourself wondering what ascible means—but that's not how irascible came to be. The key to the meaning of irascible isn't the negating prefix ir- (which is the form of the prefix in- that is used before words beginning with "r"), but rather the Latin noun ira, meaning "anger." From ira, which is also the root of irate and ire, came the Latin verb irasci ("to become angry") and the related adjective irascibilis, the latter of which led to the French word irascible. English speakers borrowed the word from French in the 16th century.
Synonyms
Examples of irascible in a Sentence
Martin Indyk, Foreign Affairs, 20 Apr. 2012
Oscar winner Oldman stars as the irascible Jackson Lamb.
—Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Oct. 2024
In a career that flourished well into her 80s, Smith played the stern yet compassionate Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter series and the irascible Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in Downton Abbey.
—Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Sep. 2024
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent his irascible right-hand man, Harry Hopkins, to London, the Churchills launched a charm offensive in which Pamela was front and center.
—Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Irascible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irascible. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
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