as in irritable
having or showing a habitually bad temper
a cantankerous old woman who insisted that nothing should ever be allowed to change
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Recent Examples of cantankerous
The trust's extensive provisions are just an example of Barnes' quirky and often cantankerous nature.
—
Blake Gopnik, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025
The trust's extensive provisions are just an example of Barnes' quirky and often cantankerous nature.
—Blake Gopnik, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025
But one favorite will not suit up - Phil Dunster, who played talented yet cantankerous pretty-boy goal scorer, Jamie Tartt.
—Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2025
Hackman's criminal mastermind was wily, vain, cantankerous, and a bit too sure of himself.
—David Morgan, CBS News, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cantankerous
Blake Gopnik, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025
The trust's extensive provisions are just an example of Barnes' quirky and often cantankerous nature.
—Blake Gopnik, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025
But one favorite will not suit up - Phil Dunster, who played talented yet cantankerous pretty-boy goal scorer, Jamie Tartt.
—Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2025
Hackman's criminal mastermind was wily, vain, cantankerous, and a bit too sure of himself.
—David Morgan, CBS News, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cantankerous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cantankerous
Adjective
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Her tone is free-associative, irritable and rat-a-tat.—
Alexandra Jacobs,
New York Times,
1 June 2025
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When an owner is distracted or irritable from work stress, the dog notices.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
25 May 2025
Adjective
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But Democrats are angry and want leaders who are generally younger and uniformly more willing to take on President Donald Trump.—
W. James Antle III,
The Washington Examiner,
13 June 2025
-
When conducting immigration raids, federal agents from the D.H.S., including Border Patrol, and from the F.B.I. often do interact with crowds of angry community members.—
Bora Erden,
New York Times,
13 June 2025
Adjective
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But when Chief, the ornery stray, gets overruled into helping his pack assist a boy who’s crash-landed on their trash island, Cranston really nails it.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
12 June 2025
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The ornery character actor Richard Kind is his announcer, barking non sequiturs from behind a podium.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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This is exactly the productive, surly, still-in-his-prime player this team needs down the middle.—
Scott Powers,
New York Times,
14 June 2025
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Rostov is exiled to the servants’ quarters in the attic, stripped of most of his possessions, and is kept under constant surveillance by a surly KGB operative (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson).—
Rob Salkowitz,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Befriending Cressida Cowper is a respectable exercise in recognizing biases, but the pair’s interactions are as disagreeable as those bangs.—
Zoe Haylock,
Vulture,
16 May 2024
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If Alex has a bit more credibility, not being as intractable in her positions, both have a tendency to come off as disagreeable in their incessant bickering and self-righteousness.—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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And while there is enough splenetic wit and manic detail to generate obsessive fandom (entire sections of Web sites are dedicated to deciphering just what Kenny is mumbling), subjects like alien abduction, genetic engineering, and Kathie Lee are hardly original targets for satire.—
Chris Norris,
SPIN,
13 Aug. 2022
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Meanwhile, the commentator and controversialist Piers Morgan, an obsessively close observer and relentless critic of Meghan, inevitably waded in with his usual splenetic views.—
Sarah Lyall,
New York Times,
17 Sep. 2022
Adjective
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Even though his bloodwork looked normal six months previously, sudden onset or acute renal failure can happen in an old dog for no apparent reason other than age and result in bilious vomiting.—
Dr. John De Jong,
Boston Herald,
8 June 2025
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Under Nézet-Séguin, the musicians do the job spectacularly, releasing all those bilious harmonies and seething rhythms in an unbroken two-hour spasm of excitement.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
30 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cantankerous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cantankerous. Accessed 26 Jun. 2025.
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