irascible

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 28, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>irascible</strong> &#149; \ir-RASS-uh-bul\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p>Someone who is irascible is easily angered and annoyed.</p> <p>// That tidy little house belongs to an <em>irascible</em> crank who never has a kind word for any of his neighbors.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irascible">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"If anyone earned the right to be an <em>irascible</em> octogenarian—especially when it comes to music—it's probably Bob Dylan. In a new interview with <em>The Wall Street Journal</em>, the singer-songwriter got the chance to do some ... sermonizing—sharing both astute points, and some rather <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/curmudgeonly">curmudgeonly</a> ones—about the state of contemporary music and the streaming era." — Jon Blistein, <em>Rolling Stone</em>, 19 Dec. 2022</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>If you try to take apart <em>irascible</em> on the model of <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irrational">irrational</a></em>, <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irresistible">irresistible</a></em>, and <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irresponsible">irresponsible</a></em> you might find yourself wondering what <em>ascible</em> means—but that's not how <em>irascible</em> came to be. The key to the meaning of <em>irascible</em> isn't the negating prefix <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ir-">ir-</a></em> (which is the form of the prefix <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/in-">in-</a></em> that is used before words beginning with "r"), but rather the Latin noun <em>ira</em>, meaning "anger." From <em>ira</em>, which is also the root of <em><a hre