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atrabilious
Jun. 20th, 2017 05:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
underusedatrabilious
melancholy or irritable
*according to my own totally subjective and unofficial rating system ☺
melancholy or irritable
Origin: Mid 17th century (in the sense ‘affected by black bile’, one of the four supposed cardinal humours of the body, believed to cause melancholy): from Latin atra bilis ‘black bile’, translation of Greek melankholia ‘melancholy’, + -ious.
Bilious can mean either physical sickness or a bad temper. Related to bile, it's great in its inherent bitterness. Too much candy can give you a tummy-ache; bilious is food poisoning or worse* (and a bilious temperament is nearly as toxic).
Atrabilious adds a new layer of misery to this wonderfully miserable word.
