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/kænˈtæŋkəɹəs/ · adjective
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."
Murphy's Law never proved itself more accurate than at the Nov. 18 film benefit for Persephone Press. With problems ranging from a cantankerous projector to blown fuses, the presentations of Jan Oxenberg's films were blurred, disrupted and played with lapses in their soundtracks.
By contrast, cantankerous and churlish people are contemptuously independent of others’ opinions, not caring enough about others and their views.
Nina was thrilled, muttering her cantankerous joy that I was getting out of the house.
Unfortunately, as Great-Aunt Bert could be a bit cantankerous, they were having to be creative.
The normally cantankerous media did not complain.
Use cantankerous when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Cantankerous means Given to or marked by an ill-tempered, quarrelsome nature; ill-tempered, cranky, crabby..
Common synonyms include cranky, crotchety, atrabilious, bad-tempered.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
"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."
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