Choleric

Definition: easily upset or angered

The etymology on this goes back to the root word for “bile,” which supposedly – by the reasoning of ancient medicine – led to an excess of anger. It’s the same root from which we get “cholera.”

Why I Looked It Up

In an article about a plane crash:

The full story of the events that night showed that the stage was set by systemic factors such as inadequate training, conflicting air traffic control procedures, and fatigue, as well as hazardous workplace attitudes adopted by the crew, whose words and actions became increasingly choleric as they escalated an imaginary fight with the Sochi approach controller.