EN

Synonyms for cantankerous

  • adjective

Most common

stubborn cranky irascible crotchety awkward bloody-minded

All synonyms

Adjective

1. Irascible

irascible, crotchety, cranky, ornery informal, stubborn, querulous, ill-tempered, grouchy, grumpy, bad-tempered, peevish, surly, ill-natured, crabby, tetchy UK US IE, obstinate, testy, dyspeptic, petulant, irritable, prickly, choleric

Other

bloody-minded, awkward

Antonyms

imperturbable

All antonyms of cantankerous →

Definitions

  1. adj. 1

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

Example sentences

  • stubborn I'm not stubborn; i'm just always right, thats it.
  • cranky Tom is going to be very cranky if Mary does that.
  • irascible He has an impetuous and irascible personality.
  • awkward At first the trainees were awkward in his company.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
cantankerousrising
stubbornrising
crankyrising
irasciblerising
crotchetyrising
awkwardrising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

5 letters
surly2, testy2
6 letters
grumpy2, cranky2, crabby2, ornery3, tetchy
7 letters
awkward2, prickly2, grouchy2, peevish2
8 letters
stubborn2, petulant3, choleric3
9 letters
irritable4, obstinate3, irascible4, crotchety3, dyspeptic3, querulous3

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (surly2 = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français
quinteux