crabby

Examples

• All

• He tends to be crabby when he hasn't eaten all day, snapping at everyone around him.

• I wish I didn't have to work for Great-Aunt March, that crabby old miser.

  Little Women (1994)

• Are you gonna be that crabby when you get older?

  The Brave One (2007)

• Sometimes you have to deal with the crabby customer until you deliver the goods.

  Blog text (23)

• Christmas always made me feel crabby and left out.

  Fiction book (1995)

• Some days we just wake up crabby for no reason at all.

  Blog text (5)

• Does someone in your household get crabby when they are hungry?

  Blog text (9)

• I feel bad that I am becoming crabby all the time, but I always feel sleepy.

  Blog text (14)

• You're a little crabby because you're hungry.

  Open Season (2006)

• You've been away from home and you're getting crabby.

  Norma Rae (1979)

Synonyms

C

cranky

vscrabby

108 4.2

Easily annoyed and upset when tired or hungry

is similar but tends to connote smaller, peevish reactions

G

grumpy

vscrabby

80 1.7

Easily annoyed and in a bad mood

is alike but suggests a slightly sharper, peevish mood

T

testy

vscrabby

33 7.2

Easily annoyed and quick to get angry

is comparable but usually implies milder, peevish moodiness

I

irritable

vscrabby

30 3.7

Quick to become annoyed or angry

is similar but often described in a more informal, everyday tone

C

cross

vscrabby

28 2.2

Feeling slightly angry or annoyed

is similarly bad-tempered but feels more personal and peevish

F

fussy

vscrabby

28 3.9

Easily annoyed and hard to please about small things

is similar but centers on moodiness rather than picky standards

P

pissy

vscrabby

• Offensive

22 9.6

Quick to become annoyed and show a bad mood

is comparable but often sounds less coarse and slightly milder

O

ornery

vscrabby

• Informal

22 8.5

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

is close but focuses more on fleeting bad mood than stubbornness

G

grouchy

vscrabby

20 3.9

Easily annoyed and often in a bad mood

is close but implies a mood that feels more sulky than blunt

C

crusty

vscrabby

20 7.3

Being often rude and easily annoyed

is similar but leans more toward sulky, petty annoyance

H

hissy

vscrabby

• Informal

9 8.3

Easily upset and reacting too much in a childish way

is alike but typically means quieter, grumpier irritation rather than drama

C

crotchety

vscrabby

6 8.8

Often in a bad mood and easily annoyed by small things

is more about short peevish bad mood than eccentric oddness

B

bad-tempered

vscrabby

5 3.5

Quick to get angry or annoyed

is closer to quick, small irritations rather than lasting anger

I

ill-tempered

vscrabby

4 5.7

Easily annoyed and quick to get angry

is similar but usually feels more petty and quick to gripe

C

curmudgeonly

vscrabby

3 9.5

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

is similar but usually refers to brief, peevish irritability

C

crabbed

vscrabby

• Archaic

1 8.6

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

shares this annoyance but is more colloquial and light

C

chippy

vscrabby

• UK

1 9.1

Being easily annoyed and quick to feel offended

is similar but usually shows a short, sulky bad mood instead

S

stroppy

vscrabby

• UK

1 9.8

Easily annoyed and likely to argue or be unhelpful

is similar but more about short annoyance than confrontational behavior

G

gripey

vscrabby

• Informal

1 8.4

Often complaining in a way that annoys others

is more about a bad mood itself rather than ongoing complaining

A

atrabilious

vscrabby

• Archaic

1 9.9

Being easily angry or often gloomy

is mainly about quick, petty irritability without deep gloom

C

crankish

vscrabby

1 8.3

Becoming easily annoyed and acting in a bad-tempered way

is alike but focuses more on short, peevish moodiness

R

ratchety

vscrabby

• Informal

9.3

Being easily annoyed and bad-tempered, often showing impatience

is akin but often milder and more petulant in tone

A

a bit scorpy

vscrabby

• Informal

9.9

Being a little angry and easily annoyed with people

is closer to plain irritability rather than brief prickliness

Antonyms

C

cheerful

99 1.0

Happy in a way you show with a smile or friendly actions

G

good-humored

• US

4 3.2

Cheerful and friendly to other people

How Irritable

angry

∞ 1.0

crabby

• Informal

25 5.4

irritable

30 3.7

annoyed

143 1.0

calm

680 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology