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splenetic

adjective/splɪˈnɛtɪk/

C2CEFR level
88/100Rarity: very rare
LiteraryRegister

Bad-tempered, spiteful or peevishly irritable.

The critic's splenetic review seemed motivated more by envy than judgement.

Similar: irascible, waspish

Origin: From the spleen, once thought the seat of bad temper.

Topic: irritability in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: irritability