cranky

¹ American  

[krang-kee] / ˈkræŋ ki /

adjective

crankier, crankiest

1. ill-tempered; grouchy; cross.

   I'm always cranky when I don't get enough sleep.

   Synonyms:

   perverse, cantankerous, crotchety

2. eccentric; queer.

3. shaky; unsteady; out of order.

4. full of bends or windings; crooked.

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

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cranky ² American  

[krang-kee] / ˈkræŋ ki /

adjective

Nautical.

1. crank.

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cranky ¹ British  

/ ˈkræŋkɪ /

adjective

1. informal eccentric

2. informal fussy and bad-tempered

3. shaky; out of order

4. full of bends and turns

5. dialect unwell

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cranky ² British  

/ ˈkræŋkɪ /

adjective

1. nautical another word for crank 2

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Other Word Forms

• crankily adverb
• crankiness noun

Etymology

Origin of cranky¹

First recorded in 1780–90; crank ¹ + -y ¹

Origin of cranky²

First recorded in 1835–45; crank ² + -y ¹

Example Sentences

I’m not cranky or moody, I’m not scattered or stressed.

From The Wall Street Journal

The cows might be cranky, but they were never in that good a mood anyway.

From Literature

If he didn't get outside soon his mother would start to get cranky.

From Literature

I felt as if I were gazing into the future: Aunt Kitty looked like a cranky old matron, which was exactly what she was headed for if she didn’t start to lighten up.

From Literature

Or Santos bristling at her new boss’s insistence on clearing her charting backlog while tending cranky patients.

From Salon

Related Words

• cantankerous
• grouchy
• grumpy
• irascible
• irritable
• ornery
• ugly