Country Dictionary

Harmlessly mischievous, Harmless teasing.

That red headed boy is an ornery sun of a buck!

Mean, nasty, grumpy.

Person 1: Rebekah is so ornery!
Person 2: Yah! I know right!

Mischievous, unpredicatable, contrary. Prone to teasing, silliness or pranks but not necessarily intentionally cruel in nature.

My friend in Georgia announced plans to dye my dog pink, then had the nerve to suggest it was unfair to call him "ornery."

Wanting to do something just to make someone else's day worse

Ornery: "I want to get hit by a car just to dent the damn thing*

mean and ill-tempered, irascible

That dog has been ornery all day.

Stubborn, irritable, rough on the edges, a little mean, grumpy.

Adjective. The correct spelling is ornery, but many Americans say/spell as awnry.

"These ornery old guys at the job will never change"

to always be in to trouble or up to something.

"My son was so ornery when he was little. He got into everything he was not supposed to."