grumpy
Americanadjective
-
grumpier,
comparative
-
grumpiest
superlative
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of grumpy
1770–80; grump expressive word, first attested in the phrase humps and grumps slights and snubs + -y 1
Explanation
When your friend suggests a restaurant but you’re in a bad mood so you say “That’s a stupid restaurant” — even though you don’t really mind it — then you’re being grumpy, meaning irritable or grouchy. There are all kinds of reasons for feeling grumpy: maybe you’re tired or annoyed or you have a headache. Whatever the cause, when you’re grumpy you just want to sulk in a corner. Even though it’s a negative word, it’s a pretty gentle one. When you're grumpy, you’re not mad or mean — you’re just unpleasant for the moment. But don’t tell someone who’s grumpy that he's being grumpy . . . He likely won’t respond kindly to that.
Vocabulary lists containing grumpy
"Dr. Seuss" by Jill Foran
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Shiloh
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for November 26–December 2, 2022
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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.
See Examples For:
Californians are in a “pretty grumpy mood,” Baldassare said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
A Gammonsesque bookend: Decades later, Joe DiMaggio bought the writer a drink because Mr. Gammons shooed an interviewer away from the notoriously private and grumpy Joltin’ Joe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Brydon has also been praised by teachers for not being afraid to introduce children to unfamiliar words, such as the use of "irascible" to describe the cat's grumpy neighbour.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Her family noticed it was making her really grumpy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
She let out a grumpy sigh and turned herself over to face the wall.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
They aren't as social as their alpine counterparts, Blumstein said, and the female marmots get grumpier as they age.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
But French fans, despite their tricolore turnouts up and down the East Coast, became even grumpier during their win over Iraq after enduring a lengthy delay and biblical downpour.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
A little of both, I’d say, although with Biden, I don’t think of him as particularly grumpy, and there are times when being grumpier might help his cause.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2024
Or if a hive is in trouble and doesn’t have a queen, the bees tend to be a little grumpier.
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2023
“But who’s the baker? Where’s the baker?” she demanded to know, for the villagers were now three days grumpier than they had been before.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Five young Pallas's cats, dubbed the world's grumpiest feline for their sullen facial expressions, went on display at a zoo in Japan on Thursday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
And what could inspire one of the grumpiest characters in children’s television to get his groove on?
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2022
"He wouldn’t put his name on the list for a nursing home knowing nobody would take the cat, who has the grumpiest meow I've ever heard."
From Fox News ● Jan. 11, 2022
No’mani plays Amir as the grumpiest of the quartet, but he’s a winning grump.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 18, 2019
Otis looked like the world’s largest, grumpiest ballet dancer.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
