Cantankerous

//kænˈtæŋkəɹəs// adj

adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Given to or marked by an ill-tempered, quarrelsome nature; ill-tempered, cranky, crabby.

    ""She is a cantankerous old maid," added another, whom I recognised, by his voice, as a man whose attentions I had put a determined check to not six weeks before: "she is a cantankerous old maid, fretting and snarling over the loss of her beauty.""

Adjective
  1. 1
    having a difficult and contrary disposition wordnet
  2. 2
    stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
crankygrouchygrumpyirascibleornerysurly

Example

More examples

"He is a violent, dangerous, cantankerous character, hated by everyone who comes across him."

Etymology

Perhaps derived from earlier contenkerous, from contentious + rancorous.

Related phrases

ill tempered

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.