stroppy

1 9.8

Easily annoyed and likely to argue or be unhelpful

adjective
/ˈstrɒpi/

: malhumorado

She was becoming stroppy, so I left her.

Examples

Oh, don't be so stroppy.

A Hard Day's Night (1964)
He's getting stroppy now.

The Who: The Kids Are Alright (1979)
- It's the heat, it makes him stroppy.

Help! (1965)
- A right stroppy cow, actually.

Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
After waiting for an hour, she became stroppy and refused to speak to anyone.
When he doesn't get his way, he gets very stroppy and starts arguing.
My colleague was stroppy today, making it hard to get any work done.

Synonyms

grumpy

vsstroppy

76 1.7

Easily annoyed and in a bad mood

is more likely to be actively difficult or argumentative

testy

vsstroppy

32 7.2

Easily annoyed and quick to get angry

is more about being oppositional and hard to handle

crabby

vsstroppy

Informal

24 5.4

Feeling easily annoyed and in a bad mood

is more prone to argue and resist others

surly

vsstroppy

24 7.2

A person who is unfriendly and often angry in a rough or threatening way

is less about threat and more about being oppositional and tricky

ornery

vsstroppy

Informal

22 8.5

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

is more about being easily annoyed than being stubbornly difficult

grouchy

vsstroppy

19 3.9

Easily annoyed and often in a bad mood

is more confrontational and less passively moody

pissy

vsstroppy

Offensive

18 9.6

Quick to become annoyed and show a bad mood

is more likely to provoke argument rather than petty annoyance

hissy

vsstroppy

Informal

12 8.3

Easily upset and reacting too much in a childish way

is more normally rude and argumentative rather than childish overreaction

cantankerous

vsstroppy

9 8.6

Gets angry easily and often argues with people

is often more about brief irritation than sustained argument

sulky

vsstroppy

6 5.0

Quietly angry and not wanting to talk to others

is more openly argumentative rather than quietly moody

crotchety

vsstroppy

6 8.8

Often in a bad mood and easily annoyed by small things

is more straightforwardly difficult and quarrelsome

short-tempered

vsstroppy

4 4.2

Quick to get angry or easily annoyed

is about being unpleasantly difficult in interactions rather than speed of anger

ill-tempered

vsstroppy

4 5.7

Easily annoyed and quick to get angry

is more about causing difficulty and arguing with others

curmudgeonly

vsstroppy

3 9.5

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

is similar but not tied to age or character traits

bad-tempered

vsstroppy

3 3.5

Quick to get angry or annoyed

adds a stronger sense of being quarrelsome or argumentative

snappish

vsstroppy

2 7.2

Speaking in a short, angry way because you are annoyed

is more generally difficult and bad tempered beyond speech style

quick-tempered

vsstroppy

1 6.0

To become angry quickly and easily

focuses more on being awkward and argumentative than just quick anger

chippy

vsstroppy

1 9.1

Being easily annoyed and quick to feel offended

is more openly combative and deliberately difficult

splenetic

vsstroppy

Archaic

1 9.9

Easily become angry and say harsh things

is similar but stresses readiness to argue or resist

snorty

vsstroppy

1 9.7

Feeling annoyed and in a bad mood

is similar but more likely to be overtly argumentative

splenitive

vsstroppy

Archaic

1 9.9

Quick to become angry or take offense

is more about being outwardly difficult rather than easily offended

narky

vsstroppy

1 9.9

Easily annoyed and quick to complain about small things

is more oppositional and likely to start arguments

waspy

vsstroppy

8.8

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

is more broadly confrontational rather than mainly spiteful

ratchety

vsstroppy

Informal

9.3

Being easily annoyed and bad-tempered, often showing impatience

is more openly combative and argumentative in behaviour

crankish

vsstroppy

8.3

Becoming easily annoyed and acting in a bad-tempered way

is more clearly oppositional and argumentative

huffish

vsstroppy

9.9

Being bad-tempered and easily offended

is more actively hostile and argumentative rather than sulky

gripey

vsstroppy

Informal

8.4

Often complaining in a way that annoys others

is more directly confrontational instead of merely complaining

mardy

vsstroppy

9.9

Being bad-tempered and quiet because of disappointment

is more directly hostile and argumentative than passive moodiness

a bit scorpy

vsstroppy

Informal

9.9

Being a little angry and easily annoyed with people

is stronger and more consistently difficult to deal with

Antonyms

calm

735 1.0

Not showing strong feelings and being very still

easygoing

22 2.6

Being calm and relaxed and not easily upset

agreeable

17 3.3

Ready to say yes to an idea or request

How Irritable

stroppy

1 9.8

irritable

32 3.7

annoyed

77 1.0

Surface Forms

stroppy positive

Morphology

stroppy = strop (transparent) = strop + y

Formed from the noun 'strop' (a sulk) with the productive adjectival suffix '-y', yielding 'given to sulking; bad-tempered', which is directly inferable.

Etymology

Stroppy probably comes from the phrase on the strop, where strop was used to mean 'a bad mood' or 'a sulk'. So someone 'on the strop' is easily annoyed, which is why stroppy means 'bad-tempered and difficult'.