grumpy

adjective \ ˈgrəm-pē \

Definition of grumpy

grumpier; grumpiest

:moodily cross :surly

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grumpily

play \ˈgrəm-pə-lē\ adverb

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grumpiness

play \ˈgrəm-pē-nəs\ noun

See grumpy defined for English-language learners

Examples of grumpy in a Sentence

Our neighbor is a grumpy old man.
I was feeling grumpy after my long flight.

Recent Examples of grumpy from the Web

Scene 5: After a cross-country flight, Entenmann’s doughnut, a night out on the New York City town, and weeks of hiding her relationship from her production team, Kylie Jenner woke up grumpy.

— mariah smith, The Cut, "It Would Be Nice to See Kylie Jenner Do Something for a Friend for Once," 28 Aug. 2017
Hockney brings that same playful attitude to the most recent of the self-portraits displayed, a series created on his iPad in 2012 in which Brooks notes the artist seems intent on showing his grumpy-old-man side.

— john rogers, The Seattle Times, "Artist David Hockney gives close-up look at self in exhibit," 26 Aug. 2017
Also, listen to grumpy Neil deGrasse Tyson, who knows these things go down all the time in other parts of the world: Total Solar Eclipses occur somewhere on Earth every two years, or so.

— sarah rense, Esquire, "How to Properly Lose Your Shit Over the Solar Eclipse," 18 Aug. 2017
Most of the photos are accompanied by grumpy comments, which are the cat’s forte.

— mark price, charlotteobserver, "Notorious ‘Grumpy Cat’ visited Charlotte this week. Then the insults flew.," 11 Aug. 2017
Eco explains how such a magic spell might work to Jacques Bayard and Simon Herzog: a grumpy right-wing French detective and the lusty left-wing academic drafted as his sidekick.

— mike fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "'The Seventh Function of Language' a brainy thriller akin to 'The Name of the Rose'," 10 Aug. 2017
Unsurprisingly, NFIP policyholders tend to get super grumpy in the face of anything that could raise their rates.

— michelle cottle, The Atlantic, "Can Congress Bring the National Flood Insurance Program Above Water?," 5 Aug. 2017
Adjan, for instance, is beguiling as Ellen, a vibrant American woman whose anniversary trip to Paris with her grumpy husband leads to an encounter worthy of a romance novel, sending her home with her own version of a Mona Lisa smile.

— christine dolen, miamiherald, "Intriguing stories swirl in new play about the iconic Mona Lisa," 17 July 2017
About 75% of the time, negative reviews of doctors and clinics are about things like wait times, grumpy receptionists or parking—things can easily be addressed, those in the industry say.

— shirley s. wang, WSJ, "What Doctors Are Doing About Bad Reviews Online," 25 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'grumpy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.