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surly - Bad-tempered and unfriendly

Penny's friendly nature was no match for the surly interviewer who never smiled back.

adjective

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dismissive - Showing that one doesn't think a person or thing is important or worth considering

Fred didn't mind not getting the job as much as the dismissive way the employer told him.

verb

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rankle - To act in a way that is annoying and irritating.

Drake would get angry when his coworkers would rankle him with ridiculous requests.

adjective

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sinister - The intention to do secret actions that are meant to do harm

The prince always treated the king with great respect, but he was using the queen in a sinister plot to have the king killed so that he could take over.

verb

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antagonize - To cause someone to become hostile or angry.

When he met someone new, he was honest about his political point of view though he knew there was a risk it would antagonize the other person.

verb

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denigrate - To damage the good name or character of a person.

Political factions sometimes denigrate each other instead of focusing on real issues

verb

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scold - To rebuke someone angrily, telling them what you think they did wrong.

When her dog tracked mud onto the carpet, Yvonne scolded him angrily.

noun

See verb

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rebuke - An expression of sharp disapproval or criticism

After Jimmy embarrassed his family, they all participated in a rebuke of him so that he wouldn't repeat the same mistake.

adjective

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contentious - Likely to cause disagreement or argument

When the parents invited the whole clan for Thanksgiving, they asked everyone to try to get along, and to avoid discussing contentious topics.

noun

See verb

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jeer - Laughing or shouting insults at someone to show you have no respect for them.

The crowd let out a jeer at the politician when he talked about positions that were extremely unpopular with the public.

adjective

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intolerant - Refusing to allow others to do or believe things that you don't agree with.

When people try to dialog with others, and both are intolerant of each others' points of view, it often just degenerates into a shouting match, with neither side listening.

verb

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confront - To deal directly with a problem or difficult situation or person.

Instead of avoiding the issue, he chose to confront it head-on.