From Middle English colerik (“(adjective) of or relating to, or dominated by, choler; of diseases: caused by excessive or toxic choler; of persons or their temperament: dominated by choler, irascible, quick to anger, choleric; of weather or zodiac signs: favourable to choler; (noun) person dominated by choler, person who is irascible or quick to anger; etc.”), from Anglo-Norman coleric, colerik, colerique, Middle French colerique, and Old French colerique (“(adjective) of or relating to choler; of persons or their temperament: dominated by choler, irascible, quick to anger; angry, enraged; (noun) person dominated by choler; person who is irascible”) (modern French cholérique), and from their etymon Late Latin cholericus (“quick to anger”), Latin cholericus (“person having cholera”), from Ancient Greek χολερικός (kholerikós, “of or relating to cholera”), from χολέρᾰ (kholéră, “cholera”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’). Χολέρᾰ (Kholéră) is possibly from Pre-Greek, or from χολή (kholḗ, “bile; gall”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“green; yellow”). By surface analysis, choler + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’). Piecewise doublet of choleraic. Adjective sense 2.1 (“of or relating to cholera; affected by cholera”) and noun sense 2.1 (“person suffering from cholera”) are probably influenced by French cholérique (“(adjective) of or relating to cholera; affected by cholera; (noun) person with cholera”).

hot-tempered • ill-tempered • irascible • temperamental • atrabilious • bad-tempered • bilious • bitchy • brainish • cantankerous • carnaptious • choleric • crabbit • crabby • cranky • crotchety • dyspeptic • edgy • fantoddish • fiery • fractious • fretful • grumpy • grotchy • grouchy • hissy • hot-livered • hotheaded • huffy • humpy • ill-natured • irritable • liverish • out of sorts • ornery (chiefly US)} • peevish • pettish • petulant • prickly • quick-tempered • querulous • raspy • ratty • short-tempered • snappish • snappy • snippety • snippish • snippy • snitchy • splenetic • stressy • surly • testy • tetchy • tetty • thin-skinned • thorny • touchy • twitchy