cantankerous
[ kan-tang-ker-uhs ]
/ kænˈtæŋ kər əs /
adjective
disagreeable to deal with; contentious; peevish: a cantankerous, argumentative man.
QUIZZES
WHO SAID IT: A QUIZ ON PRESIDENTIAL WIT AND WISDOM
Think you know your presidents? Take this quiz and see if you can match the style, wit, and ideology of these memorable lines to the right POTUS.
Question 1 of 9
“I do believe that the buck stops here, that I cannot rely upon public opinion polls to tell me what is right. I do believe that right makes might and that if I am wrong, 10 angels swearing I was right would make no difference.”
Origin of cantankerous
First recorded in 1765–75; origin uncertain; earlier contankerous, perhaps derivation of Middle English contack, conteck “quarrel, contention,” from Anglo-French contek, formed on the models of contentious, rancorous
OTHER WORDS FROM cantankerous
can·tan·ker·ous·ly, adverbcan·tan·ker·ous·ness, nounWords nearby cantankerous
Cantabrigian, Cantal, cantala, cantalever, cantaloupe, cantankerous, cantar, cantata, cantatrice, can't but, can't complain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for cantankerous
British Dictionary definitions for cantankerous
cantankerous
/ (kænˈtæŋkərəs) /
adjective
quarrelsome; irascible
Derived forms of cantankerous
cantankerously, adverbcantankerousness, nounWord Origin for cantankerous
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