From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbad-temperedˌbad-ˈtempered ●●○ adjective British English BAD-TEMPEREDsomeone who is bad-tempered becomes easily annoyed and talks in an angry way to people SYN irritable► see thesaurus at angryTHESAURUSbad-tempered becoming easily annoyed and talking in an angry unfriendly way to peopleHer husband was a disagreeable, bad-tempered man.I was wondering why she had been so bad-tempered recently.moody often becoming annoyed or unhappy, especially when there seems to be no good reasona moody teenagerMyra can be a bit moody sometimes.irritable easily annoyed about small things, especially because you are tired, upset, or worriedI hadn’t had much sleep and was feeling tired and irritable.Since Steve quit smoking, he’s been really irritable.You’re turning into an irritable old man.grumpy/grouchy easily annoyed and often complaining about things – used especially when talking about people you know well. These words sound much gentler and less critical than bad-temperedThere’s no need to be so grumpy!He woke up in a grouchy mood.be in a bad mood to be feeling annoyed or unhappy, so that you do not speak in a normal friendly way to people – used especially when this only lasts for a fairly short period of time and is not part of someone’s usual characterLeave him alone – he’s in a bad mood today.By the time I got home at 9 o'clock, I was in a really bad mood.have/have got a short fuse informal to be likely to become angry very suddenly, especially in an unreasonable wayBe careful what you say to the Colonel - he’s got a very short fuse.cantankerous written bad-tempered and complaining or quarrelling a lot – used especially about old people The hotel owner was a cantankerous old man.In later years, she became quite cantankerous.
Examples from the Corpus
bad-tempered• He's usually the most charming of men to work for, but just lately ... talk about bad-tempered.• It had no effect whatsoever, except to leave her feeling battered and thoroughly bad-tempered.• A thin, bad-tempered breeze blew sand into our faces and whipped up under my skirt.• The rough clientele of the pub, understanding nothing except that a formerly bad-tempered dispute was being amicably resolved, cheered noisily.• He was as cranky as a bad-tempered goat, always putting his head down and charging into things that annoyed him.• Meredith had only time to see that she was expensively dressed, sharp-featured and bad-tempered in looks.• In fact, she was a very selfish, disagreeable, bad-tempered little girl.• Her father was a bad-tempered man who sat alone drinking beer and watching TV most nights.• As Aunt Matilde's pain grew worse, she became too bad-tempered to see anyone. 