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

The joke is on us, of course, and especially me, who lost out on at least an hour of extra REM and now has to find a cranky cat and trim her claws.

From The Wall Street Journal

And in the entry for “cranky” I find a secondary meaning I have never considered: “full of twists and turns,” as in a cranky road.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Let's just get pizza back at the house," he sighed - the kids were getting cranky and needed a shower.

From BBC

You ever go through a cranky traditionalist phase?

From Los Angeles Times

“The purists, they get cranky about this, you know, and say that it’s supposed to be gin and vermouth and that’s all a martini should be.”

From Salon

Related Words

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