crabbed 1 of 2

crabbed

2 of 2

verb

past tense of crab
1
2

Synonym Chooser

How is the word crabbed different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of crabbed are gloomy, glum, morose, saturnine, sulky, sullen, and surly. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

In what contexts can gloomy take the place of crabbed?

The synonyms gloomy and crabbed are sometimes interchangeable, but gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

When might glum be a better fit than crabbed?

While in some cases nearly identical to crabbed, glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.

a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

How do morose and glum relate to one another, in the sense of crabbed?

Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

When is saturnine a more appropriate choice than crabbed?

The meanings of saturnine and crabbed largely overlap; however, saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.

a saturnine cynic always finding fault

When can sulky be used instead of crabbed?

In some situations, the words sulky and crabbed are roughly equivalent. However, sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

When is it sensible to use sullen instead of crabbed?

The words sullen and crabbed are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

When would surly be a good substitute for crabbed?

While the synonyms surly and crabbed are close in meaning, surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

a typical surly teenager

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 crabbed
Adjective
This is a crabbed and mendacious interpretation of the law. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024 Tár, though, displays little more than crabbed irritability and self-serving cynicism. Justin Davidson, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2022 This is a truly crabbed and reductive view of the man and his work. Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2021 Guston’s searingly funny caricatures of Richard M. Nixon and his corrupt White House cronies, drawn mostly in short, crabbed lines, have been exhibited only twice before — once in Manhattan (2016) and once in London (2017). Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2019 No one can accuse this Court of having a crabbed view of the reach of its competence. WSJ, 27 June 2019 The core error here is the Texas Supreme Court’s crabbed understanding of Obergefell. Dale Carpenter, Washington Post, 2 July 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crabbed
Adjective
  • The collection of slab-like columns by Derek McLane, lit in sickly, sullen colors by Natasha Katz, could be anywhere.
    Jesse Green, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025
  • My partner came home from work to find a sullen child whimpering in his room.
    Jann Blackstone, Boston Herald, 23 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • The year before, the prison had been the site of two back-to-back riots in which inmates had burned mattresses to protest inadequate medical care and the persistent use of solitary confinement to punish prisoners who complained.
    Jesse Hyde, Rolling Stone, 4 Jan. 2025
  • On March 4, 2021, Williams complained to Rollins that everyone was still ignoring his advice.
    Joshua Kaplan, ProPublica, 4 Jan. 2025
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
Verb
  • The couple welcomed two children, True, 6, and Tatum, 2, but their romance was marred by Thompson's multiple cheating scandals.
    Dan Perry, Newsweek, 4 Jan. 2025
  • But others argue these budget controls are ensuring Connecticut won’t return to the 2010s, a decade marred by frequent annual deficits and some of the largest tax hikes in state history.
    Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 4 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Many praised him for protecting his personal space, and other owners highlighted just how grumpy their own dogs can be too.
    Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025
  • Swells surge then abate, storms get grumpy but never plausibly murderous.
    Justin Davidson, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Lincoln Hospital was where Shirley Vasquez and all the other parents, like her, took their children when they were injured or ill.
    Cary Goodman, New York Daily News, 5 Jan. 2025
  • People who don’t understand, like, people get injured.
    Law Murray, The Athletic, 5 Jan. 2025
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
Verb
  • His vengeance included turning Michigan State in for NCAA violations, leading to probation that crippled the program until the late 1970s.
    Joe Rexrode, The Athletic, 31 Dec. 2024
  • As the city litigated and revised the environmental impact report, two devastating storms in December 2023 and February 2024 — the same series that crippled San Diego’s Ocean Beach Pier — substantially damaged the wharf.
    Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 28 Dec. 2024

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Crabbed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crabbed. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!