Literal translation
he's a big ill-graced one
Meaning
he's a grumpy, unhelpful sort
Explanation
This phrase describes a grumpy person, unpleasant, always in a bad mood and unhelpful toward others. The adjective, built from 'bad' and 'gracious', literally names what lacks grace, what lacks good disposition toward others: the opposite of the gracious gesture that smooths relations, this person refuses or makes every exchange unpleasant. Adding 'big' intensifies the trait without changing its nature, functioning as a popular intensifier, with no bearing on physical size. The expression takes a feminine form without difficulty, since the person described can be a man or a woman just as easily, which confirms that the trait belongs to character, independent of gender. The register is familiar and comes up regularly in judgments passed on an unfriendly neighbor, shopkeeper, or colleague. It is loosely comparable to 'grouch' or 'killjoy' in English, though the match is not exact, since the Provençal emphasis falls more on a lack of helpfulness than on simple bad temper.