cantankerous
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
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
Explanation
If someone is cantankerous he has a difficult disposition. Take care not to throw your ball into the yard of the cantankerous old man down the street — he'll cuss you out and keep your ball. The origin of cantankerous is unclear (it may be at least partly from Middle English contek 'dissension'), but ever since it first appeared in plays from the 1770s, it's been a popular way to describe someone who is quarrelsome and disagreeable. It is usually applied to people, but stubborn animals like mules are also described as cantankerous. Events can be cantankerous too, like a cantankerous debate. Some synonyms are cranky, bad-tempered, irritable, irascible.
Vocabulary lists containing cantankerous
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Grade 10, List 5
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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.
Something’s wrong with you if you didn’t rewatch “Jaws” after the episode where, out at sea, Stephen Root’s cantankerous Wyck has his own Captain Quint USS Indianapolis monologue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
Inside Exxon, he eventually earned the nickname “Iron Ass” because of his occasionally cantankerous nature.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
More character actor than leading man, he could be relied upon to inject a feisty, fiery machismo and a cantankerous contrariness into the most mainstream Hollywood offering.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
In “Greenberg,” Ben Stiller’s title character is a cantankerous and neurotic New Yorker who has fled west after a nervous breakdown.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025
When the ringing departed from Herbie’s brain, he realized that not only had he ridden a very cantankerous horse, he’d accomplished something nobody else had ever accomplished.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Definitions 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.
