😠 An angry person 😠 Bad-tempered

crabbit

9.9

Having a bad temper and getting annoyed easily

adjective

: malhumorado

My grandfather can be quite crabbit if he misses his afternoon nap.

Examples

My neighbor is always crabbit in the mornings.
She gave a crabbit reply when asked about her plans for the weekend.
After waiting in the rain, everyone was feeling a bit crabbit.
Don't be so crabbit today!
My grandfather can be quite crabbit if he misses his afternoon nap.
After waiting in the rain, everyone was feeling a bit crabbit.
She gave a crabbit reply when asked about her plans for the weekend.

Synonyms

crabby

vscrabbit

Informal

24 5.4

Feeling easily annoyed and in a bad mood

is the same but used mainly in Scottish or northern speech

snorty

vscrabbit

1 9.7

Feeling annoyed and in a bad mood

is similar but carries a regional dialect label

waspish

vscrabbit

1 8.1

Easily annoyed and quick to speak sharply

is more general meaning irritable without necessarily biting speech

crabbed

vscrabbit

Archaic

1 8.6

Annoyed and easily upset so you speak in a short angry way

is used mainly in Scottish or northern English speech

waspy

vscrabbit

8.8

Quick to speak in a rude or angry way that hurts others

is similar but focuses on plain irritability rather than spite

chippie

vscrabbit

9.9

Easily offended and quick to feel hurt by small comments or jokes

is broader meaning easily annoyed without provocation

Antonyms

easygoing

22 2.6

Being calm and relaxed and not easily upset

good-natured

19 2.4

Being friendly, cheerful, and easy to get along with

How Bad-Tempered

surly

24 7.2

crabbit

9.9

grumpy

76 1.7

irritable

32 3.7

Surface Forms

crabbit positive

Morphology

crabbit = crab (semi-transparent) = crab + it

Formed from 'crab' + the Scots adjectival suffix '-it'; the metaphorical link to 'crab' (an irritable creature) and the dialectal suffix make the derivation recognizable but not fully predictable to average learners.

Etymology

The word crabbit comes from Scots and is like the simple English word crab, the animal. People thought crabs look angry and 'pinch', so crabbit means 'bad-tempered' or easily annoyed.