waspish

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or suggestive of a wasp.
2. Easily irritated or annoyed; irascible.
3. Indicative of irritation, annoyance, or spite: a waspish remark.

waspishly wasp'ish·ly adv.
waspishness wasp'ish·ness n.

(WOS-pish)

adjective
1. Like a wasp, in behavior (stinging) or in form (slender build).
2. Easily annoyed; irascible; petulant.

Etymology
From wasp, from Middle English waspe, from Old English waesp, from waeps.

Usage
"His occasionally waspish sense of humour always derided pomposity and self-regard." — Sue Harper, Obituary: Robert Gray: He Unravelled the Links Between Class and Language, The Guardian (London), Apr 26, 2001.

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adjective

Having or showing a bad temper: bad-tempered, cantankerous, crabbed, cranky, cross, disagreeable, fretful, grouchy, grumpy, ill-tempered, irascible, irritable, nasty, peevish, petulant, querulous, snappish, snappy, surly, testy, ugly. Informal crabby, mean². Idioms: out of sorts. See attitude/good attitude/bad attitude/neutral attitude.

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The adjective has one meaning:

Meaning #1: very irritable
  Synonyms: bristly, prickly, splenetic

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - pirrelig, arrig, giftig, hvas

Nederlands (Dutch)
wespachtig, vinnig

Français (French)
adj. - acerbe

Deutsch (German)
adj. - bissig

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - απότομος, δύστροπος, αναφερόμενος σε Αγγλοσάξονα Αμερικανό προτεστάντη της άρχουσας τάξης

Italiano (Italian)
acrimonioso, reazionario

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - irritável, como a vespa

Русский (Russian)
язвительный, осиный (о талии)

Español (Spanish)
adj. - punzante, mordaz, irritable, esbelto

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - stingslig, giftig

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
如黄蜂的, 易怒的, 腰细的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 如黃蜂的, 易怒的, 腰細的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - (행동이) 말벌 같은, 잘 화내는, (말, 태도 등이) 쏘는 듯한

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - スズメバチのような, きゃしゃな, 怒りっぽい

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) زنبوري, دبوري, شكس, غضوب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮דמוי-צירעה, עוקצני, רגזני, חריף-מענה‬

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