crabby

adjective

crab·​by ˈkra-bē How to pronounce crabby (audio)
crabbier; crabbiest
informal
: easily irritated : peevish and irritable : grouchy
a crabby recluse
He gets crabby if he doesn't have his morning coffee.
She was in a crabby mood and got a certain amount of satisfaction out of pushing her sister's buttons.Isis Crawford
crabbiness noun
… the waiters have shed Stalinist crabbiness in favor of Parisian-style contempt for the customer. Kati Marton

Examples of crabby in a Sentence

She gets crabby if she doesn't get enough sleep. a crabby old dog who snapped at passersby
Recent Examples on the Web In this beloved special, the Peanuts kids are all dressing up and ready for a costume party, but Linus has his own way of celebrating the season, no matter what anyone says (and his famously crabby big sister Lucy certainly has a lot to say about it). Danny Horn, EW.com, 6 Oct. 2023 As the bread course is neatly at the mid-point of the menu, this is a great place to have the most intense flavor strike, which comes from the salty, savory, crabby, and nutty hoisin that perfectly cuts into the soft steamy core of the crab bun. Chelsea Davis, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024 Keep your crabby comments and compulsive shopping on the down-low — at least for those 10 days. Elizabeth Gulino, refinery29.com, 20 Oct. 2023 It’s located in the crabby constellation Cancer, and Mars will appear as a brilliant red ruby surrounded by sparkly diamonds. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 31 May 2023 Those crabby pubic lice, P. pubis, look nothing like human head or clothing lice — physically or genetically. Bridget Alex, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019 Bubbe is just a crabby old lady. Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 9 Sep. 2022 There are days when commuters are crabby. Star Tribune, 12 June 2021 Give yourself permission to be crabby. Leslie Barker, Dallas News, 1 Jan. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crabby.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

crab entry 4

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of crabby was in 1599

Dictionary Entries Near crabby

Cite this Entry

“Crabby.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crabby. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

crabby

adjective
crab·​by ˈkrab-ē How to pronounce crabby (audio)
crabbier; crabbiest

More from Merriam-Webster on crabby

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!