as in irritable
having or showing a habitually bad temper
a cantankerous old woman who insisted that nothing should ever be allowed to change
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cantankerous
Sunrise on the Reaping will follow a young Haymitch, who later becomes the cantankerous mentor of District 12’s famous tributes.
—
Lizz Schumer, People.com, 18 Jan. 2025
During his first term, Mr. Trump functioned less as a coach calling plays and more as a cantankerous owner demanding that his team throw out the entire playbook in the fourth quarter.
—Catie Edmondson, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025
With a gimlet eye and a surprisingly girlish laugh, Vera is cantankerous, impatient, intensely private, unapologetically disheveled and utterly glorious.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Asked if there’s another side of Carollo beyond his cantankerous public image, Kelley paused.
—Linda Robertson, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cantankerous
Lizz Schumer, People.com, 18 Jan. 2025
During his first term, Mr. Trump functioned less as a coach calling plays and more as a cantankerous owner demanding that his team throw out the entire playbook in the fourth quarter.
—Catie Edmondson, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025
With a gimlet eye and a surprisingly girlish laugh, Vera is cantankerous, impatient, intensely private, unapologetically disheveled and utterly glorious.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Asked if there’s another side of Carollo beyond his cantankerous public image, Kelley paused.
—Linda Robertson, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cantankerous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cantankerous
Adjective
-
Though most people benefit from eating more fiber, some may need to temporarily reduce their fiber intake to help their digestive system heal, such as during a flare-up of irritable bowel disease (IBD), diverticulitis, or Crohn’s disease.4 3.—
Melissa Nieves,
Verywell Health,
7 Mar. 2025
-
Scheer was smart to whittle down the novel’s winding sentences into short, sharp exclamations and curt instructions — and also to be faithful to Melville’s rendition of the captain’s irritable diction.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Accept Your Child's Anger When your child has an angry outburst, acknowledge it.—
Miriam Foley,
Parents,
11 Mar. 2025
-
During eight tumultuous days in 1988 at the world’s only Deaf university, four students must find a way to lead an angry mob to change the course of history.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The offensive line, in Monken’s estimation, is the most talented and possibly most ornery unit he’s had at West Point, all the way down to wrestling each other to settle arguments about who’s tougher.—
Brian Hamilton,
The Athletic,
21 Nov. 2024
-
They’re led by John Dutton III, an ornery character who nevertheless carries the kind of gravitas that only a veteran movie star like Kevin Costner can bring.—
Noel Murray,
Vulture,
18 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
The Sum of a Career in Spaceflight Schirra had announced his plans to retire from NASA before the Apollo 7 flight, and a successful (if surly) mission, topped off with an Emmy Award and a Deep Draft Command certificate, wasn’t a bad way to wrap up a nine-year career at the agency.—
Kiona N. Smith,
Forbes,
12 Mar. 2025
-
The Pacific Northwest, which has played host to a series of surly atmospheric rivers and a bomb cyclone in recent days, should finally quiet down, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys told USA TODAY on Sunday as that national weather picture for the holiday grew sharper.—
John Bacon,
USA TODAY,
24 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
The United States’s three most powerful European allies disagree with its plan for ending the brutal, destructive stalemate in Ukraine, with Germany the most disagreeable.—
Dominic Green,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
21 Feb. 2025
-
Sometimes that means confronting disagreeable people.—
David Plazas,
The Tennessean,
24 Apr. 2024
Adjective
-
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
-
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
-
In the Nineties, the report became a staple in the bilious feedstock of right-wing militias, part of a slurry of propaganda that turned legitimate grievances into the conviction that FEMA agents in unmarked black helicopters were soon to enact a new world order.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harper's Magazine,
19 Feb. 2025
-
The death chamber is nine feet by twelve feet, painted a bilious turquoise.—
Lawrence Wright,
The New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2025
Articles Related to cantankerous
Cite this Entry
“Cantankerous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cantankerous. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share