crotchety

Examples

• All

• I am twenty-seven, and I have been crotchety for a good three years.

  Fiction book (1998)

• Nurse Parkins became crotchety and hollow-eyed from lack of sleep as she spent her days following up leads.

  Fiction book (1996)

• My mother may be crotchety, Miss Potter, but she does have an eye for beautiful things.

  Miss Potter (2006)

• Well, if I'm crotchety, it might be because I have some very important work to do.

  Within Our Gates (1920)

• Look, Artie, this is a little too crotchety, even for you.

  Groove Street (2018)

• You've actually been a little crotchety at work.

  Café Society (2016)

• The part was that of a crotchety, slightly crazed high school principal.

  Fiction book (1994)

• He's crotchety, but he's got an open mind.

  Within Our Gates (1920)

• Grandmother Patience has moved in with the Jackson family, and she is cruel, crotchety, and outspoken.

  Blog text (7)

• Derb is a crotchety, cranky man, which is probably why I've always liked him.

  Blog text (20)

Synonyms

C

cranky

vscrotchety

117 4.2

Easily annoyed and upset when tired or hungry

carries the same quick annoyance but with odd mannerisms

G

grumpy

vscrotchety

76 1.7

Easily annoyed and in a bad mood

adds unpredictable or slightly eccentric reactions to that mood

I

irritable

vscrotchety

32 3.7

Quick to become annoyed or angry

adds an eccentric, unpredictable edge to that irritability

T

testy

vscrotchety

32 7.2

Easily annoyed and quick to get angry

is similar but includes slightly eccentric or odd behaviour

F

fussy

vscrotchety

24 3.9

Easily annoyed and hard to please about small things

is irritable too but less focused on small details

C

crabby

vscrotchety

• Informal

24 5.4

Feeling easily annoyed and in a bad mood

has the same moodiness but can seem more eccentric

O

ornery

vscrotchety

• Informal

22 8.5

Being bad-tempered and stubborn, often hard to deal with

is similar in mood but more eccentric and unpredictable

G

grouchy

vscrotchety

19 3.9

Easily annoyed and often in a bad mood

is similar but shows more unusual or quirky annoyance

P

pissy

vscrotchety

• Offensive

18 9.6

Quick to become annoyed and show a bad mood

is irritable but not necessarily rude or petty in tone

C

crusty

vscrotchety

14 7.3

Being often rude and easily annoyed

is similarly harsh but more likely to seem oddly eccentric

C

cantankerous

vscrotchety

9 8.6

Gets angry easily and often argues with people

shows irritability but with more quirky, unpredictable traits

S

short-tempered

vscrotchety

4 4.2

Quick to get angry or easily annoyed

is irritable too but with less sudden anger, more oddness

I

ill-tempered

vscrotchety

4 5.7

Easily annoyed and quick to get angry

is irritable with a more eccentric or unpredictable edge

C

curmudgeonly

vscrotchety

3 9.5

Often bad-tempered and easily annoyed, like a grumpy older person

is irritable yet less tied to age or sulky habit

S

snappish

vscrotchety

2 7.2

Speaking in a short, angry way because you are annoyed

is similar but also shows eccentric or unpredictable hostility

S

shirty

vscrotchety

• Offensive

2 9.1

Gets angry easily about small things

is irritable too but shows a slightly eccentric or unpredictable side

C

chippy

vscrotchety

• UK

1 9.1

Being easily annoyed and quick to feel offended

is irritable but less about defensiveness, more about odd moods

S

stroppy

vscrotchety

• UK

1 9.8

Easily annoyed and likely to argue or be unhelpful

is irritable too but more oddly unpredictable than merely difficult

S

snorty

vscrotchety

• UK

1 9.7

Feeling annoyed and in a bad mood

is similar but conveys a more eccentric, unpredictable nature

C

crabbed

vscrotchety

• Archaic

1 8.6

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

adds a slightly unpredictable or eccentric tone to that temper

N

narky

vscrotchety

• UK

1 9.9

Easily annoyed and quick to complain about small things

is more broadly irritable and sometimes oddly unpredictable

C

crankish

vscrotchety

8.3

Becoming easily annoyed and acting in a bad-tempered way

is irritable but not always strangely eccentric

R

ratchety

vscrotchety

• Informal

9.3

Being easily annoyed and bad-tempered, often showing impatience

is like that but also often oddly unpredictable

G

gripey

vscrotchety

• Informal

8.4

Often complaining in a way that annoys others

is irritable but not primarily defined by constant complaining

W

waspy

vscrotchety

8.8

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

is irritable too but less deliberately spiteful and more odd

Antonyms

E

easygoing

22 2.6

Being calm and relaxed and not easily upset

How Irritable

irascible

• Formal

5 8.6

cranky

117 4.2

irritable

32 3.7

touchy

33 4.9

crotchety

6 8.8

calm

735 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology