THE most ornery of legends has resurfaced in Andy Roddick's inner circle with a hip replacement and midlife spectacles and mortality on his mind.

On the other hand, none of these sonatinas prepare the student for Beethoven at his most ornery.

Laimbeer was the most ornery of the Bad Boys, that nasty collection of Pistons who terrorized the N.B.A. in the late 1980's.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center tends to keep the most ornery contemporary music off its main subscription series.

They are going to try to shut down some future Eliot Spitzer, the only man in the country with the guts to take on even the most ornery Wall Street potentates.

But who can handle cleaning and laundry and the most ornery little boy in the world?

It's the best, most ornery Coppola film in a very long time, a movie whose cheery manner constantly contradicts the meaning of what's happening on the screen.

His thoughts gave pause, and he added silently: even if you are the most ornery and troublesome female in the western world.

Dino Ciccarelli and Keith Primeau were two of their most ornery forwards.

You were the most ornery ensign a first-time lieutenant ever had to keep in order.