Standard Lemma guide

cantankerous

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /kænˈtæŋkəɹəs/
  • /kənˈtæŋkəɹəs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K AE0 N T AE1 NG K ER0 AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Given to or marked by an ill-tempered, quarrelsome nature; ill-tempered, cranky, crabby.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cranky, crotchety, atrabilious, bad-tempered, bilious, bitchy, brainish, cantankerous, carnaptious, choleric, crabbit, crabby, dyspeptic, edgy, fantoddish, fiery, fractious, fretful, grumpy, grotchy, grouchy, hissy, hot-livered, hot-tempered, hotheaded, huffy, humpy, ill-natured, ill-tempered, irascible, irritable, liverish, out of sorts, ornery (chiefly US)}, peevish, pettish, petulant, prickly, quick-tempered, querulous, raspy, ratty, short-tempered, snappish, snappy, snippety, snippish, snippy, snitchy, splenetic, stressy, surly, temperamental, testy, tetchy, tetty, thin-skinned, thorny, touchy, twitchy, umbrageous, volatile, waspish

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

having a difficult and contrary disposition- Dorothy Sayers

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a cantankerous and venomous-tongued old lady

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: crotchety, ornery

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate- Spectator

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • unions...have never been as bloody-minded about demarcation as the shipbuilders

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bloody-minded

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Perhaps derived from earlier contenkerous, from contentious + rancorous.

Across languages

Translations

64 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: заядлив (zajadliv) — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Bulgarian: придирчив (pridirčiv) — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Czech: nevrlý — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Czech: hašteřivý — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Danish: krakilsk — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Danish: kværulantisk — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Dutch: dwars — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Dutch: korzelig — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Esperanto: kverelema — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Esperanto: grumblema — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Esperanto: incitiĝema — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Esperanto: kolerema — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Esperanto: malbonhumora — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Finnish: kärttyisä — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Finnish: pahantuulinen — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • French: irritable — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Galician: bufiñón — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Galician: fungón — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Galician: roñón — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Galician: rosmón — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • German: launisch — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • German: zänkisch — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • German: mürrisch — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • German: übellaunig — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Greek: κακότροπος (kakótropos) — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Irish: anglánta — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Irish: agóideach — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Italian: bisbetico — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Italian: scorbutico — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Italian: collerico — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Italian: stizzoso — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Italian: irritabile — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Italian: irascibile — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Italian: intrattabile — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Latin: ācriculus — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Māori: pukukino — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Māori: āritarita — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Māori: nihoniho — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gretten — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kranglevoren — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Polish: kłótliwy — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Polish: swarliwy — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Portuguese: irritadiço — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Portuguese: mal-humorado — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Portuguese: ranzinza — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Romanian: supărăcios — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Romanian: susceptibil — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Romanian: iritabil — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Russian: сварли́вый (svarlívyj) — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Spanish: intratable — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Spanish: mañoso — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Spanish: enojadizo — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Spanish: arisco — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Spanish: cascarrabias — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Swedish: grälsjuk — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Swedish: kverulantisk — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Swedish: kvirrig — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Swedish: grinig — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Swedish: gnällig — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Swedish: knarrig — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Turkish: aksi — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Turkish: geçimsiz — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Turkish: huysuz — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby
  • Ukrainian: сварливий (svarlyvyj) — ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby