Splenetic
/spləˈnɛtɪk/noun
Bad-tempered, irritable, or spitefully critical.
Did you know?In humoral medicine, the spleen was associated with black bile and melancholy, so English inherited a word for irritability that literally grew out of a theory of bodily fluids and emotional imbalance.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
splēn
“spleen”
Late Latin
Latin
spleneticus
“of or pertaining to the spleen”
Middle French
French
splenétique
“spleen-related; melancholy, irritable”
16th Century
English
splenetike
“affected by the spleen; peevish or melancholy”
Modern English
English
splenetic
“irritable, spitefully critical, or bitterly sarcastic”
Explore more surprising origins