bad-tempered becoming easily annoyed and talking in an angry unfriendly way to people
Her husband was a disagreeable, bad-tempered man.
I was wondering why she had been so bad-tempered recently.
moody often becoming annoyed or unhappy, especially when there seems to be no good reason
a moody teenager
Myra can be a bit moody sometimes.
irritable easily annoyed about small things, especially because you are tired, upset, or worried
I hadn’t had much sleep and was feeling tired and irritable.
Since Steve quit smoking, he’s been really irritable.
You’re turning into an irritable old man.
grumpy/grouchy easily annoyed and often complaining about things – used especially when talking about people you know well. These words sound much gentler and less critical than bad-tempered
There’s no need to be so grumpy!
He woke up in a grouchy mood.
be in a bad mood to be feeling annoyed or unhappy, so that you do not speak in a normalfriendly way to people – used especially when this only lasts for a fairly short period of time and is not part of someone’s usualcharacter
Leave him alone – he’s in a bad mood today.
By the time I got home at 9 o'clock, I was in a really bad mood.
have/have got a short fuse informal to be likely to become angry very suddenly, especially in an unreasonable way
Be careful what you say to the Colonel - he’s got a very short fuse.
cantankerous written bad-tempered and complaining or quarrelling a lot – used especially about old people
The hotel owner was a cantankerous old man.
In later years, she became quite cantankerous.
Examples from the Corpus
bad-tempered• He's usually the most charming of men to work for, but just lately ... talk about bad-tempered.• It had no effect whatsoever, except to leave her feeling battered and thoroughly bad-tempered.• A thin, bad-temperedbreezeblewsand into our faces and whipped up under my skirt.• The roughclientele of the pub, understanding nothing except that a formerly bad-tempereddispute was being amicably resolved, cheered noisily.• He was as cranky as a bad-temperedgoat, always putting his head down and charging into things that annoyed him.• Meredith had only time to see that she was expensively dressed, sharp-featured and bad-tempered in looks.• In fact, she was a very selfish, disagreeable, bad-tempered little girl.• Her father was a bad-tempered man who sat alonedrinkingbeer and watchingTV most nights.• As Aunt Matilde's pain grew worse, she became too bad-tempered to see anyone.