adjective
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informal cross; irritable; contrary
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full of crotchets
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of crotchety
Explanation
The adjective crotchety describes someone who's difficult, irritable, and ornery. If you're crotchety, you complain and argue and are more or less miserable to be around. Crotchety is most often used when talking about older people, like the crotchety old man who sits on his porch and yells at you to slow down when you drive by. Sometimes crotchety people take pleasure in bothering others or complaining. Crotchety derives from the word crotchet, meaning "whim or fancy," and crotchety people do seem subject to whims — you might not know exactly why they're irritable, but you definitely know they're crotchety.
Vocabulary lists containing crotchety
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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.
“He was playing a character that was like a very crotchety old man who hated everything,” Grossman said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
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.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2025
This is a place where everyone knows everyone else and might find stuck-in-their-ways folks like Harry to be charming or crotchety.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2025
The show, “Extremely Inappropriate!,” features a foul-talking, crotchety physical education teacher and widowed father who boards a public bus in 1986 Japan and finds himself whisked to 2024.
From New York Times ● May 29, 2024
That even if his father hadn’t taught him himself, some crotchety old nanny had waxed poetic on the value of tucking your shirt in, polishing your shoes, and combing your hair.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
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.
