Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ornery

/ˈɔɹnəɹi/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.33 in modern English

Syllables
or-ne-ry
IPA
/ˈɔɹnəɹi/
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Troublesome to deal with in a good way; mischievous, prankish, teasing.

American usage; Humorous; Informal

Example Sentences

Etymology

A contracted or dialectal pronunciation of ordinary. Sense 3 (“ordinary, commonplace”) was the earliest sense; the meaning of the word then shifted to “inferior, plain-looking, unpleasant”—presumably due to ordinariness—and finally to sense 1 (“disagreeable, stubborn, and troublesome to deal with”).

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈɔɹnəɹi/
  • British English: /ˈɔːnəɹi/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Synonyms

Questions

How do you pronounce ornery?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɔɹnəɹi/.
What does ornery mean?
Disagreeable, stubborn, and troublesome to deal with; cantankerous.
Where does ornery come from?
A contracted or dialectal pronunciation of ordinary. Sense 3 (“ordinary, commonplace”) was the earliest sense; the meaning of the word then shifted to “inferior, plain-looking, unpleasant”—presumably due to ordinariness—and finally to sense 1 (“disagreeable, stubborn, and troublesome to deal with”).

How to pronounce ornery

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ornery”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɔɹnəɹi/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “ornery”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “ornery” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.