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crossness

crossness

1 8.1
Being slightly angry or annoyed
  • noun
  • /ˈkrɔs.nəs/
translation icon : irritabilidad
  • I could feel her crossness rising as she waited in the long line at the store.

Examples

  • My good man, I know that, but a little kraut crossness won't stop me now.

  • So much so, I blamed my husband in the ensuing phone call to the mattress company, and with lots of eye rolling and pretend-crossness at his incompetence (sorry babe), I convinced them to exchange it for the correct size.

    Blog text (19)
  • A certain crossness—and he said, "All right, all right; can it; Jesus!"—and she said, "You don't have to become insulting," and he said, "How was I?"—and she said, "Just now, in what you said; another example of what I meant about the bad feelings coming from you," and he said, "I'm sorry then."

    Fiction book (1997)
  • She often takes her crossness out on her family when she's tired and stressed.

  • His crossness was evident when he snapped at everyone during the meeting.

Synonyms

irritability
vscrossness
8 4.2

Being easily annoyed or quick to become angry

is the broader bad mood state rather than a quick emotional reaction
petulance
vscrossness
5 9.0

Being easily annoyed and acting childish

is the adult feeling of being in a bad mood without childish tone
crankiness
vscrossness
3 6.0

Being easily annoyed and acting in odd, fussy ways

is the plain feeling of annoyance without eccentric or fussy traits
peevishness
vscrossness
1 7.3

A tendency to become easily annoyed and impatient

is the general bad mood rather than specific impatience over small matters
crabbiness
vscrossness
1 5.5

A mood of being easily annoyed and bad-tempered

is similar but names the general state of being in a bad mood
grouchiness
vscrossness
1 4.0

A state of being easily annoyed and in a bad mood

is the inner state of being annoyed rather than the outward mood
fussiness
vscrossness
1 5.7

A state of being easily upset or hard to please

is the mood of being annoyed rather than a picky attitude
irascibility
vscrossness
  • Formal
1 9.3

A tendency to become angry quickly

is milder and implies being in a bad mood rather than hot temper
crabbedness
vscrossness
9.9

Often being bad-tempered and hard to please

is the simple feeling of being in a bad mood rather than picky anger
fretfulness
vscrossness
7.7

A feeling of being nervous, annoyed, or easily upset

is the stable bad mood rather than anxious or worried upset
biliousness
vscrossness
  • Literature
9.9

A tendency to become angry easily

is milder, describing being annoyed rather than explosive anger

Antonyms

26 2.1

A feeling of being happy and satisfied with your life

9 2.7

A state without strong feelings or worry in your mind

How Annoyed

rage
393 3.4
anger
957 1.0
crossness
1 8.1
irritation
27 3.6

Surface Forms

crossness singular
crossnesses plural

Morphology

crossness = cross (transparent) = cross + ness

A straightforward nominalization: 'cross' (irritable) + '-ness' denotes the state or quality of being cross.

Etymology

The word crossness comes from the familiar adjective cross, which means 'angry' or 'annoyed'. Think of someone with a 'cross' face giving short answers, and crossness is that mood of being easily annoyed.