grumpy
Americanadjective
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:
"We were all over the country supporting them and, to be fair, we both really enjoy football. It was excellent. We didn't want to be grumpy parents. We treated it as a holiday."
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
It’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, whose maddening play once clogged up the text chains of grumpy Knicks fans, but now feel like family.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
He achieved greatness though an epic amplification of a uniquely L.A. positivity in which grumpy became wistful.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
“Trips to China have made me grumpy and given me a bad attitude toward American-market EVs,” wrote Kevin Williams at InsideEVs.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
This time it really was Hermione running toward them from the stands; Harry saw Lavender walking off the pitch, arm in arm with Parvati, a rather grumpy expression on her face.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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
"There are some similarities between me and my main character but she's much grumpier than me. I'd make a useless sleuth," said Perry.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
Brown said that people can be grumpier, more rigid, and worse problem solvers when they’re play-deprived.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 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
Professor Treebaun walked in a moment later, looking decidedly grumpier than usual at being called in so early to monitor a test he’d watched me fail less than twenty-four hours ago.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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
The grumpiest critics will argue that Mr. Reitman only delivered a frothy serving of the familiar, rehashing too much from the 1984 film for fan service akin to what J.J.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 2, 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
“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 Seattle Times ● Jan. 11, 2022
The youngest child to the oldest, grumpiest elder would come daily just to see it.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
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.
