English
Etymology
The adjective form of spleen. Anger was traditionally believed to originate from the fluids of the spleen.
Pronunciation
(US) IPA|/spl��n�tɪk/
:Rhymes: Rhymes:English:-�tɪk|-�tɪk
Adjective
en-adj
- bad-tempered, spiteful, habitually angry
#*1678, Samuel Butler, Hudibras
#*:A sect, whose chief devotion lies / In odd perverse antipathies; / ... / More peevish, cross, and splenetick, / Than dog distract, or monkey sick.
#*1876, George Eliot, Daniel Deronda
#*:In fact, Gwendolen, not intending it, but intending the contrary, had offended her hostess, who, though not a splenetic or vindictive woman, had her susceptibilities.
- biology relating to the spleen
#*1879, Sir Samuel White Baker, Cyprus, as I Saw it in 1879
#*:I have already described the general protuberance of the abdomen among the children throughout the Messaria and the Carpas districts, all of whom are more or less affected by splenetic diseases.
Derived terms
splenetically pos_adv
io:splenetic
te:splenetic
vi:splenetic
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