cantankerous
[kan-tang-ker-uh s]
- disagreeable to deal with; contentious; peevish: a cantankerous, argumentative man.
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Origin of cantankerous
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cantankerous
Contemporary Examples
To Chicago he was still two-fisted, hard-drinking, cantankerous.
The Stacks: John Schulian’s Classic Profile of Newspaper Columnist Mike RoykoJohn Schulian
January 5, 2014
I still remember how disappointed I was by this cantankerous book.
First up, a classic profile of the cantankerous but lovable Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko.
The Stacks: John Schulian’s Classic Profile of Newspaper Columnist Mike RoykoJohn Schulian
January 5, 2014
The most dangerous animal to encounter when walking, I discovered, is not a lion but a cantankerous male buffalo.
It was ugly, cantankerous, simple enough for any farmhand to understand and fix, and indomitable.
Historical Examples
"Well, of all cantankerous cranks he is the worst," he would say with a sigh.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
Don't be cantankerous, and don't be subtle, because I've been bathing.
A Spirit in PrisonRobert Hichens
They were the most cantankerous, persistent race you can imagine.
Be It Ever ThusRobert Moore Williams
You must have thought me cantankerous, and so I have been sometimes, but always by conviction and on principle.
The ChristianHall Caine
It's no wonder he drinks, hitched up to a cantankerous old hyena like that.
QuinAlice Hegan Rice
cantankerous
- quarrelsome; irascible
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Word Origin
C18: perhaps from C14 (obsolete) conteckour a contentious person, from conteck strife, from Anglo-French contek, of obscure origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for cantankerous
adj.
1772, said to be "a Wiltshire word," probably from an alteration (influenced by raucous) of Middle English contakour "troublemaker" (c.1300), from Anglo-French contec "discord, strife," from Old French contechier (Old North French contekier), from con- "with" + teche, related to atachier "hold fast" (see attach). With -ous. Related: Cantankerously; cantankerousness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper