cross-grained
Americanadjective
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having the grain running transversely or diagonally, or having an irregular or gnarled grain, as timber.
-
stubborn; perverse.
adjective
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(of timber) having the fibres arranged irregularly or in a direction that deviates from the axis of the piece
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perverse, cantankerous, or stubborn
Other Word Forms
- cross-grainedly adverb
- cross-grainedness noun
Etymology
Origin of cross-grained
First recorded in 1640–50
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.
In the end, you have little cross-grained pallets, which you sandwich together with jam.
From Washington Post
Perverse, obstinate, contrary, cross-grained, intractable, not amenable, in a dour sullen mood.
From BBC
His father, Lord Saxby, had a romantic passion for the daughter of a country parson—a queer, cross-grained old scholar.
From Project Gutenberg
He was brave and courageous to rashness, but cross-grained, and incorrigibly obstinate.
From Project Gutenberg
Of all the ill-mannered, cross-grained fellows I ever met, there goes the worst!
From Project Gutenberg
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.
