as in irritable
having or showing a habitually bad temper
a cantankerous old woman who insisted that nothing should ever be allowed to change
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Recent Examples of cantankerous
The story isn't linear and sometimes the character's main motivation can be reduced to the moodiness of cantankerous old men.
—
Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
This isn’t just the opinion of some cantankerous Boomers who want those pesky Gen-Z kids to turn down their loud music and get off the lawn; globally, study after study has demonstrated that Gen-Z has historically low financial literacy levels.
—Benjamin Van Der Lande, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025
The Post isn’t as great as All the President’s Men — this movie is sort of like its prequel — but its cast is superb, especially Tom Hanks as a cantankerous Bill Bradlee and Meryl Streep as a conflicted Kay Graham.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 20 June 2025
Her cantankerous dad undoubtedly gets the best zingers.
—Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 10 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for cantankerous
Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
This isn’t just the opinion of some cantankerous Boomers who want those pesky Gen-Z kids to turn down their loud music and get off the lawn; globally, study after study has demonstrated that Gen-Z has historically low financial literacy levels.
—Benjamin Van Der Lande, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025
The Post isn’t as great as All the President’s Men — this movie is sort of like its prequel — but its cast is superb, especially Tom Hanks as a cantankerous Bill Bradlee and Meryl Streep as a conflicted Kay Graham.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 20 June 2025
Her cantankerous dad undoubtedly gets the best zingers.
—Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 10 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for cantankerous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cantankerous
Adjective
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Avi tries to comfort his grieving (read: irritable) mother by saying at least his grandmother and grandfather are together again in Heaven.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
22 Aug. 2025
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For years men have blamed divorce on menopause and said women are irritable and irrational, says Alyx Coble-Frake, founder of The Agenda, an app that helps women track their menstrual cycle to help increase productivity.—
Laura Trujillo,
USA Today,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The family defended themselves against an angry mob of hundreds of people who surrounded the house, throwing rocks and threatening the family, Duggan said.—
Dana Afana,
Freep.com,
14 Aug. 2025
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Freed of her caring duties, angry and uncertain about her future Karl gets on a Greyhound bus and heads to Las Vegas where Jean is working as a waitress at the El Cortez.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Their aggressive, ornery, and unpredictable nature has earned them the nickname Black Death.—
Kris Millgate,
Outdoor Life,
7 Aug. 2025
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Meanwhile, eighty-three-year-old Harrison Ford earned his first Emmy nod for his role as the ornery therapist on the show Shrinking.—
Taylor Wilson,
USA Today,
16 July 2025
Adjective
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Lars was originally a surly teen of Beach City, but he was eventually abducted to the Gem Homeworld.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
12 June 2025
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Anna’s surly 15-year-old daughter Harper (Julia Butters) is vehemently opposed to the possibility of being uprooted and moved to London.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Over the weekend, reports emerged that the higher tariffs followed a disagreeable Thursday phone call between Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and Trump — which Swiss officials rejected, according to Reuters.—
Sophie Kiderlin,Jenni Reid,
CNBC,
4 Aug. 2025
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Trump and his supporters prefer a happy history, a pleasant history that arouses patriotism by overlooking disagreeable people and despicable events that sully the nation’s reputation and mar the magnificence of the American story.—
William C. Hine,
Twin Cities,
23 July 2025
Adjective
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And while there is enough splenetic wit and manic detail to generate obsessive fandom (entire sections of Web sites are dedicated to deciphering just what Kenny is mumbling), subjects like alien abduction, genetic engineering, and Kathie Lee are hardly original targets for satire.—
Chris Norris,
SPIN,
13 Aug. 2022
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Meanwhile, the commentator and controversialist Piers Morgan, an obsessively close observer and relentless critic of Meghan, inevitably waded in with his usual splenetic views.—
Sarah Lyall,
New York Times,
17 Sep. 2022
Adjective
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That continues when the matriarch finally passes away 20 years later, leaving equally bilious offspring Laras (Dinda Kanyadewi) in charge.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
6 Aug. 2025
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Even though his bloodwork looked normal six months previously, sudden onset or acute renal failure can happen in an old dog for no apparent reason other than age and result in bilious vomiting.—
Dr. John De Jong,
Boston Herald,
8 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cantankerous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cantankerous. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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