cranky

[ krang-kee ]

/ ˈkræŋ ki /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cranky ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, crank·i·er, crank·i·est.

ill-tempered; grouchy; cross: I'm always cranky when I don't get enough sleep.

eccentric; queer.

shaky; unsteady; out of order.

full of bends or windings; crooked.

British Dialect. sickly; in unsound or feeble condition; infirm.

Nearby words

Origin of cranky

First recorded in 1780–90; crank¹ + -y¹

SYNONYMS FOR cranky

1. crotchety, cantankerous, perverse.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cranky ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formscrank·i·ly, adverbcrank·i·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for crankiness

Nursing helped to assuage injuries, fatigue, crankiness, and even sickness.
The Bogus Breastfeeding Debate Over Nursing Older Kids|Diane Wiessinger|May 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Salesmen particularly complained of her crankiness and of the unsatisfactory service they got.
The Knack of Managing|Lewis K. Urquhart and Herbert Watson
There's something so underbred about crankiness; and the Harwich family have always been essentially aristocrats.
Bella Donna|Robert Hichens
But it is more likely that our crankiness was the result of the supper we had eaten the previous night.
The Story Girl|Lucy Maud Montgomery

For one and a half years prior to admission her "crankiness" is said to have become much worse.
Benign Stupors|August Hoch
To attempt to repeat what he said would convict me of crankiness equal to his own, and worse—because he could do it, and I cannot.
Dariel|R. D. Blackmore

British Dictionary definitions for crankiness

cranky

/ (ˈkræŋkɪ) /

adjective crankier or crankiest

informal eccentric

mainly US, Canadian and Irish informal fussy and bad-tempered

shaky; out of order

full of bends and turns

dialect unwell

Derived Formscrankily, adverbcrankiness, noun

cranky

/ (ˈkræŋkɪ) /

adjective crankier or crankiest

nautical another word for crank 2

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 crankiness

cranky

adj.

"cross-tempered, irritable," 1807, from crank (n.) + -y (2). The evolution would be from earlier senses of crank, e.g. "a twist or fanciful turn of speech" (1590s); "inaccessible hole or crevice" (1560s). Grose's 1787 "Provincial Glossary" has "Cranky. Ailing sickly from the dutch crank, sick." and identifies it as a Northern word. Related: Crankily; crankiness.