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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
Vikram Murthi, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2024
Goldwater was an attractive, ruggedly Western, occasionally irascible, widely unknown senator from Arizona.
—Neal B. Freeman, National Review, 9 July 2024
This highbrow legacy held little interest for the charismatic but irascible Mr. Lee, who was kicked out of prep school in his teens.
—Matt Schudel, Washington Post, 9 July 2024
However, Mars conjoins Uranus on July 15, which creates a bottleneck of explosive potential, irascible tempers, or instability toward the middle of July.
—Steph Koyfman, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for irascible 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'irascible.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Irascible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irascible. Accessed 18 Aug. 2024.
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