atrabilious
Meanings
adj
- Having an excess of black bile.
- Characterized by melancholy.
- Ill-natured; malevolent; cantankerous.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
From Latin ātra bīlis (“black bile”) (āter (“dark, black”) + bīlis (“bile”)) + -ous (“full of”), referring to the humour which ancient Hippocratic and later Galenic medicine associated with sadness and despondency.
Synonyms
Related words
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