have one's hump up
An archaic slang phrase meaning to be in a bad mood — angry, sullen, or just generally difficult to deal with.
Definitions
An archaic slang phrase meaning to be in a bad mood — angry, sullen, or just generally difficult to deal with. The 'hump' here is a figurative lump of irritability you're carrying around. Think of it as the Victorian version of 'woke up on the wrong side of the bed.' Rarely used today, but it has a satisfying bluntness to it.
Comments
(slang, archaic) To be angry or sullen.
Comments
Have a better definition?
Add your own interpretation of "have one's hump up".
⚡About Tech, Dev & AI slang
The vocabulary of software engineers, AI researchers, and anyone living in a terminal or on GitHub — from LLM to MCP, CORS to vibe coding, agentic to enshittification.
See all Tech, Dev & AI slang on Slangora.
Tags
Other words near "have one's hump up" (H)
Browse all slang words starting with H.
Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- 94%
(slang, archaic) To become angry or sullen.
- 90%
Get one's hump up is an old-fashioned slang phrase meaning to become irritated, angry, or sullen — to get your back up, as a cat does when annoyed. The hump here evokes the raised spine of a bristling animal or the hunched posture of someone in a bad mood. Though archaic in most modern usage, the phrase still turns up in period fiction and occasionally in regional speech where older idioms survive longer than average.
- 75%
Dated slang meaning to get out quickly, scarper, or flee a situation in a hurry. The 'hump' here carries the sense of exerting physical effort — hunching over and moving fast, like carrying a heavy pack at speed. Used in criminal, military, and underworld contexts to mean making a rapid exit before trouble arrives. The phrase survives mainly in older British and American slang, occasionally revived for period-accurate dialogue.
- 75%
(slang) To depart in a hurry; to flee.