curmudgeonly
Americanadjective
adverb
Etymology
Origin of curmudgeonly
Explanation
When you're curmudgeonly, you come across as very grumpy and unfriendly. A curmudgeonly teacher answers students' questions in a cranky and inapproachable way. Waiting in a long, curmudgeonly line isn't much fun, since everyone around you seems irritable. Your own curmudgeonly mood might cause you to snap at your friends and complain about the weather, despite the fact that it's a beautiful day. The origin of the related noun curmudgeon is a mystery, although some experts guess at a connection to cur, or "dog."
Vocabulary lists containing curmudgeonly
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Life of Pi
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Endgame
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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.
Call them curmudgeonly roadblocks to progress, or the last beacons of sanity on the road.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Larry David, who as the show’s curmudgeonly star is better known for breaking social norms than actual laws, travels to Atlanta in the episode.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
A curmudgeonly teacher at an exclusive boys' school in the 1970s reluctantly finds himself having to look after a group of students who aren't able to return home for the holidays.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2023
“American Fiction” finds Wright, like Giamatti, playing a curmudgeonly educator whose hard exterior masks a tender longing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2023
It was the cantankerous, curmudgeonly talk show humorist Jean Shepherd who entranced him.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
