Cross-grained
adj
adj ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Having an irregular rather than a parallel grain. not-comparable
- 2 Difficult to deal with; contrary or troublesome. broadly, not-comparable
"It is quite wonderful to me, in such a cross-grained, hardening, and harsh world as ours, where she can have contrived to keep so much of open, fresh, and kindly feeling."
Adjective
- 1 of timber; having fibers running irregularly rather than in parallel wordnet
- 2 characterized by self-willed opposition wordnet
Example
More examples"It is quite wonderful to me, in such a cross-grained, hardening, and harsh world as ours, where she can have contrived to keep so much of open, fresh, and kindly feeling."
Related phrases
More for "cross-grained"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.