cantankerous
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Perhaps derived from earlier contenkerous, from contentious + rancorous.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Adjective
cantankerous (comparative more cantankerous, superlative most cantankerous)
- given to or marked by an ill-tempered nature, ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby.
- 1839, Fraser's magazine for town and country, Volume 20, p618
- she is a cantankerous old maid fretting and snarling over the loss of her beauty.
- 1866 Every Saturday, Volume 2, p355
- The great principle on which the privileges of cantankerous folly and ill-nature found is this: that as we go on through life we grow somewhat cowardly; and if a thing be disagreeable, we just keep out of its way: sometimes by rather shabby expedients.
- 1947, John Courtenay Trewin, Plays of the year: Volume 47, 195
- I am being cantankerous. Some days I feel so cantankerous I could take a machine-gun into the streets and shoot down the whole population of Hendon Central; I don't know why.
- 1998, Pauline Chazan, The moral self, 80
- By contrast, cantankerous and churlish people are contemptuously independent of others’ opinions, not caring enough about others and their views.
- 2004, 386 F. 3d 192 - Jacques v. Dimarzio Inc
- The "cantankerous" are those "marked by ill humor, irritability, and determination to disagree." Webster's New International Dictionary 328 (3d ed.1986).
- 2004, 386 F. 3d 192 - Jacques v. Dimarzio Inc
- All things being equal, a "cantankerous" person or a curmudgeon would be more secure by becoming more unpleasant.
- 2007, Linda Francis Lee, The Devil in the Junior League, p44
- Nina was thrilled, muttering her cantankerous joy that I was getting out of the house.
- from where is this quotation?
- The cantankerous landlord always grumbled when asked to fix something.
- 1839, Fraser's magazine for town and country, Volume 20, p618
Note: Cantankerous is generally used to describe an unpleasant elderly person in a slightly pejorative manner. However, the term can be used to people in general, livestock, and machinery as well.
