cantankerous

adjective

kan-ˈtaŋ-k(ə-)rəs How to pronounce cantankerous (audio)
Definition of cantankerousnext
as in irritable
having or showing a habitually bad temper a cantankerous old woman who insisted that nothing should ever be allowed to change

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cantankerous Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman Both DeVito and Perlman starred in Burrows sitcoms, DeVito as the cantankerous dispatcher Louie De Palma on Taxi and Pearlman the equally acerbic waitress Carla on Cheers. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 19 June 2026 The cantankerous Jackson Lamb is back in a first look at season six of Slow Horses. — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 11 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 The famously cranky Phillies fans are getting more cantankerous. — Barry M. Bloom, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for cantankerous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cantankerous
  1. irritable
  2. angry
  3. ornery
  4. surly
  5. disagreeable
  6. dyspeptic
  7. splenetic
  8. bilious
Adjective
  • Perelman said people who have weakened immune systems and those with irritable bowel disease may want to talk to their doctors before incorporating the foods into their diet.
    — Devi Shastri, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
  • The symptoms are so delayed that people often blame them on food poisoning, irritable-bowel syndrome, gluten intolerance.
    — Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 29 June 2026
Definition of irritable
Adjective
  • The state Department of Transportation is scheduled to install temporary three-way stop signs at the intersections during a road project that’s already created mind-numbing traffic snarls and angry and confused drivers.
    — Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 23 July 2026
  • That same source insisted to People that Jolie is no longer angry at her 62-year-old ex-husband.
    — Martha Ross, Mercury News, 23 July 2026
Definition of angry
Adjective
  • In the show, Kyle Chandler plays Hal Jordan, an ornery Green Lantern who is begrudgingly training his upstart protégé (Aaron Pierre).
    — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 16 July 2026
  • Leach also would publicly call out his players and could get ornery when questioned about his team’s shortcomings.
    — Ralph D. Russo, New York Times, 2 June 2026
Definition of ornery
Adjective
  • Back at the dilapidated family home, Edgar grows even surlier, lashing into gentle-natured Joe for being an under-achiever compared to his brother and causing Thya to become apprehensive about Ed’s proximity to sharp objects.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026
  • Kara Zor-El, the cynical, surly protagonist of the new Supergirl movie, has a very different attitude than her goody two-shoes cousin, Clark Kent.
    — James Grebey, Time, 26 June 2026
Definition of surly
Adjective
  • There are also a lot of people who have never dreamed of being disagreeable in public, much less considered joining a raucous social movement.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 12 June 2026
  • The disagreeable object proved no match for the most fertile person in Montana.
    — Jonathan Franzen, New Yorker, 1 June 2026
Definition of disagreeable
Adjective
  • Better is Danny Elfman’s spartan and fraught score, particularly the dyspeptic drums.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
  • But Kael sensed in her less dyspeptic moments that there was something special about Redford.
    — Stephen Galloway, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2025
Definition of dyspeptic
Adjective
  • Still, the internet nurtures these Hobbesian, splenetic views.
    — Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 24 May 2026
  • 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
Definition of splenetic
Adjective
  • Look the steady coarsening of American civic and political culture and the ways in which the once-outrageous—the bilious, hateful rhetoric and the creeping authoritarianism—have become almost ordinary.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 July 2026
  • Minaj’s bilious flurry is possibly related to claims that she is owed between $100 to 200 million related to her stake in Tidal, the music streaming service launched and spearheaded by Jay-Z in 2015 and was sold to Jack Dorsey’s company Square for $297 million in 2021.
    — Andrew Flanagan, Variety, 15 Oct. 2025
Definition of bilious

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Cite this Entry

“Cantankerous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cantankerous. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of cantankerous for Spanish Speakers

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