Dictionary Home » Dictionary Definitions » cantankerous

cantankerous

Listen See in Thesaurus See in a sentence

The definition of cantankerous is someone who is bad tempered, grumpy or looking for an argument.

(adjective)

An example of cantankerous is a grumpy old man who lives on your street who is always watching the neighborhood kids to find something to yell at them about.

See cantankerous in Webster's New World College Dictionary

adjective

bad-tempered; quarrelsome

Origin: prob. < ME contakour, troublemaker (< Anglo-Fr < contec, discord) + -ous

Related Forms:

cantankerously adverb
cantankerousness noun

See cantankerous in American Heritage Dictionary 4

adjective

Ill-tempered and quarrelsome; disagreeable: disliked her cantankerous landlord.
Difficult to handle: “had to use liquid helium, which is supercold, costly and cantankerous” (Boston Globe).

Origin:

Origin: Perhaps from Middle English contek, dissension (influenced by such words as rancorous and cankerous)

Origin: , from Anglo-Norman contec

Origin: , possibly from Latin contāctus

Origin: , past participle of contingere, to touch; see contact

Related Forms: