crotchety

[kroch-i-tee]

adjective

1. given to odd notions, whims, grouchiness, etc.

   Synonyms: grouchy, eccentric, fussy

2. of the nature of a crotchet.

crotchety

/ ˈkrɒtʃɪtɪ /

adjective

1. informal,  cross; irritable; contrary

2. full of crotchets

Other Word Forms

• crotchetiness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of crotchety¹

First recorded in 1815–25; crotchet + -y ¹

Example Sentences

From a crotchety neighbor who yelled at her daughters, she learned that responding with a homemade peach pie can establish a more harmonious relationship with a person undergoing his own private travails.

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The figure of the author, typically a crotchety older man with an impish sense of humor and unabashed literary fervor, became a staple of his later work.

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This is a place where everyone knows everyone else and might find stuck-in-their-ways folks like Harry to be charming or crotchety.

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She excelled on stage and screen in Alan Bennett’s “The Lady in the Van,” playing a crotchety squatter with an imperious sense of entitlement.

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Otis Drexell, crotchety fifth-grade teacher and scam artist, has only two classroom rules: “Never shout when the teacher has a hangover,” and “All loose change belongs to the teacher.”

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Related Words

• cantankerous 
• crusty 
• grouchy 
• grumpy 
• ornery