Atrabiliousness
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The state or quality of being atrabilious.; The state or quality of having an excess of black bile. obsolete, uncountable
"Furthermore, the urine of some was both profuse and pale, autopsies showed that the dead had very swollen liver, blackened heart emitting a pale yellow liquid and later, black blood, black and semiputrefied spleen and lungs; atrabiliousness could be seen in their blood vessels, the dry stomach and the rest of the body, wherever it was dissected, was extremely pale."
- 2 The state or quality of being atrabilious.; Grumpiness, irritability, melancholy, moroseness uncountable
"Of his [Samuel Johnson's] works; though they have little of originality, and his ſtyle has a certain atrabiliouſneſs, and his tiſſue of paragraphs an unpleaſing quaintneſs, it must be confeſſed that his Dictionary, Rambler, and the two imitative translations of tranſlations of Juvenal, &c. are very excellent; […]"
Example
More examples"Furthermore, the urine of some was both profuse and pale, autopsies showed that the dead had very swollen liver, blackened heart emitting a pale yellow liquid and later, black blood, black and semiputrefied spleen and lungs; atrabiliousness could be seen in their blood vessels, the dry stomach and the rest of the body, wherever it was dissected, was extremely pale."
Etymology
From atrabilious + -ness.
Related phrases
More for "atrabiliousness"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.