cranky
1 Americanadjective
-
crankier,
comparative
-
crankiest
superlative
-
ill-tempered; grouchy; cross.
I'm always cranky when I don't get enough sleep.
- Synonyms:
- perverse, cantankerous, crotchety
-
eccentric; queer.
-
shaky; unsteady; out of order.
-
full of bends or windings; crooked.
-
British Dialect. sickly; in unsound or feeble condition; infirm.
adjective
-
crankier,
comparative
-
crankiest
superlative
adjective
-
informal eccentric
-
informal fussy and bad-tempered
-
shaky; out of order
-
full of bends and turns
-
dialect unwell
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of cranky1
First recorded in 1780–90; crank 1 + -y 1
Origin of cranky2
Explanation
Cranky is one of those words that sounds a little bit like what it means: one who is cranky is easily annoyed, irritable, or testy. My sister gets cranky when she doesn't eat. If you want to have a good day, keep her well fed. A cranky person doesn't get furious or outraged, they're just easier than usual to annoy—things get on their nerves more quickly than they do for other people. You could think of someone who's cranky as having actual crank. When they're hungry, tired or otherwise worn out that crank is easy to turn—it doesn't take much to make them mad. A person in a good mood, though, has a crank that isn't as easy to turn. That's because they're not cranky.
Vocabulary lists containing cranky
Rules
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Lemonade War
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Negative Words to Describe People
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There’s good news in Brian Cox returning as their cranky superior, except it looks like two days of work, tops.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
It’s possible Trump was just tired and cranky.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
Our cranky polity now grumbles its way toward its 250th anniversary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
“You can certainly see the market get cranky about that.”
From MarketWatch ● May 20, 2026
My grandfather’s cranky face stares back from the photo, and the look in his eyes is exactly the same as on the boy’s face.
From "The Fourteenth Goldfish" by Jennifer L. Holm
The return of live performances in 2021 after 18 months of shuttered halls and scattered orchestras was enough to disabuse any critic of their crankier faculties.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 7, 2021
"You get older, you get crankier, and comfort becomes more important. I think it's as simple as that," Pitt told Esquire in an interview published Thursday.
From Fox News ● Sep. 3, 2021
But why am I not crankier? a friend asks.
From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2016
He was even crankier than usual, prone to disappearing for hours on end and not returning calls.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 4, 2015
“Not everything is great,” I murmur, feeling crankier and crankier.
From "Towers Falling" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
There’s Ba humbugi, a Fiji snail referencing one of literature’s crankiest men.
From Science Magazine ● May 10, 2022
“Sometimes I can add something from a younger perspective,” Ms. Rose said, referring to America’s crankiest judge as Nana.
From New York Times ● Oct. 25, 2021
He’s hosting a dinner for the rest of the Freys, an uncharacteristically spontaneous celebration from one of Game of Thrones’ crankiest old bastards.
From The Verge ● Jul. 17, 2017
Part of this animosity stems from McCain’s status as the crankiest of the Senate’s many cranky old men.
From Salon ● Jul. 16, 2015
She’d even joined the toad racing team and gotten stuck with the slowest, crankiest toad of the lot.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
