irascible \ih-RASS-uh-buhl\, adjective:
Prone to anger; easily provoked to anger; hot-tempered.
The lawyer described his client as an irascible eighty-two-year-old eccentric who alternated between spinning fascinating tales about her past and cussing him out.
-- Jack Olsen, Hastened to the Grave
His father was an irascible and boastful bully, a heavy drinker and a gambler.
-- Robin Waterfield, Prophet: The Life and Times of Kahlil Gibran
Irascible is from Latin irascibilis, "prone to anger," from ira, "anger," which is also the source of ire and irate.
