cross as a bear



cross as a bear

Grumpy, ill-humored, annoyed, as in Stay away from Claire; she's cross as a bear this morning. Unlike the earlier cross as two stocks, this survives even though the adjective cross for "ill-tempered" is otherwise not used much in America. It is sometimes amplified as cross as a bear with a sore head. [Early 1700s]
See also: bear, cross

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Subrahmanya-Hinduism, Indian, Telugu
DeltaDEL-təEnglish
Dejana-Serbian, Croatian, Slovene
JessamineJES-ə-minEnglish (Rare)
CarlyleKAHR-lielEnglish
JoslynJAHS-linEnglish (Modern)