Bryan Forbes
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The Origin of Cantankerous Is Mysterious
A person described as cantankerous may find it more difficult than most to turn that frown upside down, while a cantankerous mule/jalopy/etc. is difficult to deal with—it may not turn in your desired direction. It’s been speculated that cantankerous is a product of the obsolete word contack, meaning “contention,” under the influence of a pair of “difficult” words still in use: rancorous and cankerous. Rancorous brings the anger and “bitter deep-seated ill will” (as rancor can be understood to mean), and cankerous brings the perhaps understandable foul mood: a cankerous person suffers from painful sores—that is, cankers.
Examples of cantankerous in a Sentence
Jonathan Spence, New York Review of Books, 22 Oct. 2009
There are those who contend the hockey maven is a cantankerous old coot—rife with unpopular opinions and quick to assert them
—Rick Harrison, Newsday, 19 Sept. 2004
… it's something ultimately more memorable: a self-portrait of a coolly cantankerous woman, reformed but unrepentant.
—David Gates, New York Times Book Review, 21 Nov. 1999
In his last years, Harriman was the kind of cantankerous old man who once berated a financial planner by threatening to make him sit in the corner and wear a dunce cap.
—Bryan Burrough, Vanity Fair, January 1995
a cantankerous old woman who insisted that nothing should ever be allowed to change
Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 11 June 2026
The cantankerous Croatian lasted until November.
—James Horncastle, New York Times, 2 June 2026
As our cantankerous lead, Molina harumphs lovably from scene to scene, conveying both his character’s indomitable will and the wretchedness of his grief.
—Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 31 May 2026
Madge Gates Wallace was 98 years old, nearly deaf and famously cantankerous.
—Susan Page, USA Today, 27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cantankerous
Cite this Entry
“Cantankerous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cantankerous. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cantankerous
adjective
