Read the sentence.
The irritable old man who lives at the end of the street waved a baseball bat as he chased some skateboarders off his driveway.
Which words with similar meanings would have a more negative connotation than irritable in the sentence?
testy
ill-humored
belligerent
sulky
C?
Belligerent: hostile and agressive
All of them mean basically irritable or bad-tempered except C. So I would agree.
ty
YW
To answer this question, we need to examine the context and meaning of the word "irritable" and identify similar words with more negative connotations.
"Irritable" suggests that the old man is easily annoyed or prone to becoming angry. We are looking for words with stronger negative connotations.
Let's look at the provided options:
A) testy - This word means easily irritated or touchy. Although it is similar to "irritable," it does not necessarily carry a more negative connotation.
B) ill-humored - This word suggests a general disposition or mood of being unpleasant or grumpy. It has a slightly stronger negative connotation than "irritable."
C) belligerent - This word means hostile, aggressive, and ready to fight. It definitely has a more negative connotation than "irritable."
D) sulky - This word implies being sullen, gloomy, or silently resentful. While it does have a somewhat negative connotation, it might not be as strong as "belligerent."
Based on the descriptions, the word with the most negative connotation among the given options is "belligerent." So, yes, the answer would be C) belligerent.