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Hangry

[ˈhæŋɡri] · HANG-gree · English (modern blend) · adjective
negativeintensity: mediumanger

Irritable or bad-tempered as a result of hunger..

Definition

Irritable or bad-tempered as a result of hunger.

Connotation & usage

Narrower than anger or general irritation/annoyance in pinning the bad temper to a specific cause — hunger — and typically implying a transient, somewhat self-aware, often jocular mood that resolves once one eats. Where irritation and annoyance are cause-neutral, hangry diagnoses the trigger (“I get hangry before lunch”). Informal and usually light in register.

Related words

Etymology

A blend (portmanteau) of hungry + angry.

How it has changed

A modern coinage popularized in the 21st century and added to the Oxford English Dictionary in January 2018. First-attestation differs by authority (Merriam-Webster dates a first use to 1918; Oxford's earliest evidence is 1956), so the precise origin is unsettled.

Dispute & caveat

An informal, sometimes faddish portmanteau; reputable authorities disagree on its earliest attestation (1918 per Merriam-Webster vs. 1956 per Oxford).

Sources

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From The Lexicon of Feeling — a carefully sourced dictionary & thesaurus of emotions across 60 languages. Definitions are verified against the cited sources; emotion-family, valence, and intensity tags are editorial. This is a learning tool for emotional vocabulary, not therapy or a substitute for professional care. © 2026 The Lexicon of Feeling.