Sinclair Lewis
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Bilious is one of several words whose origins trace to the old belief that four bodily humors (black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood) control temperament. Just like phlegmatic ("of a slow and stolid phlegm-driven character"), melancholy ("experiencing dejection associated with black bile"), and sanguine ("of a cheerful, blood-based disposition"), bilious suggests a personality associated with an excess of one of the humors—in this case, yellow bile. Such a personality may also be described as unreasonable, peevish, or ill-tempered, as typified by Charlotte Brontë in her 1849 novel, Shirley: "These two men, of hard, bilious natures both, rarely came into contact but they chafed each other’s moods."
Synonyms
Examples of bilious in a Sentence
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2024
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Rampant exposure to this movie on cable suggests that Scorsese’s bilious portrait of Jordan Belfort may soon join GoodFellas as one of the director’s most intensely rewatchable efforts.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 8 Mar. 2024
Her women’s expressions are sardonic, humorous, perplexed, or even slightly bilious, and all of them are versions of herself.
—Dodie Kazanjian, Vogue, 20 Apr. 2024
Color is a bilious miasma, golden tones sliding into flashes of brightness that collapse into queasy hues.
—Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2023
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Dictionary Entries Near bilious
Cite this Entry
“Bilious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bilious. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bilious
adjective
Medical Definition
bilious
adjective
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