grouchy
adjective
sullenly discontented; sulky; morose; ill-tempered.
grouchy
1 American
[grou-chee]
/ ˈgraʊ tʃi /
adjective
grouchier,
grouchiest
Grouchy
2
American
[gr oo-shee]
/ gruˈʃi /
noun
grouchy
British
/ ˈɡraʊtʃɪ /
adjective
Other Word Forms
- grouchily adverb
- grouchiness noun
Etymology
Origin of grouchy
Explanation
Are you feeling cranky or irritable and complaining about every little thing that annoys you? You're grouchy. Someone who's grouchy is easily irritated, like the grouchy bus driver who yells for everyone to sit down and be quiet, or your grouchy brother, who grumbles about what's being served for dinner — or the notoriously grouchy Oscar the Grouch from "Sesame Street." Grouchy was college slang in the late 1800s, along with expressions like "to have a grouch on." The root might be grutch, "to complain or find fault with."
Vocabulary lists containing grouchy
Irritable, List 2
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Irritable, List 2
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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.
More forms and records gathered sooner means fewer terse emails from your grouchy accountant — and less time waiting for your refund.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 17, 2026
The heroine is a grouchy, 73-year-old retired lawyer at odds with her daughter and her garden club.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 8, 2025
Matt Bomer, “Mid-Century Modern” “Subtlety rarely wins awards, but I’d like to see Harrison Ford’s masterful underplaying as ‘Shrinking’s’ grouchy shrink prove me wrong.
From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2025
Some of you must have been feeling a bit grouchy.
From Seattle Times • May 11, 2024
Mark followed them inside and said in a loud, grouchy voice, “Kids these days got no manners. Showing up wet, with no clothes, expecting a meal.”
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
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.
