Standard Lemma guide

crotchety

adj · 2 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.

  • UK: /ˈkɹɒtʃ.ə.tɪ/
  • US: /ˈkɹɑ.t͡ʃɪ.ti/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K R AA1 CH AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Cranky, disagreeable, or stubborn, especially if prone to odd whims or fancies.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

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: cantankerous, ornery

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From crotchet + -y, using crotchet in the 16th-century sense of a whim or fancy.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: капризен (kaprizen) — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • Czech: vrtošivý — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • Finnish: oikukas — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • Finnish: äksy — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • French: grincheux — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • German: launisch — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • German: quengelig — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • German: knatschig — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • Māori: kirikawa — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • Polish: zrzędliwy — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • Polish: marudny — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • Russian: капри́зный (kapríznyj) — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • Russian: своенра́вный (svojenrávnyj) — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • Russian: прихотли́вый (prixotlívyj) — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn
  • Russian: вздо́рный (vzdórnyj) — cranky, disagreeable or stubborn