crabby

adjective

ˈkra-bē How to pronounce crabby (audio)
Definition of crabbynext
1
as in irritable
easily irritated or annoyed a crabby old dog who snapped at passersby

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in restless
given to complaining a lot a bunch of crabby kids who don't want to do any work

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 crabby Lucy Van Pelt Lucy is the crabby kid who always has something up her sleeve. — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2026 Leah stayed crabby through dinner. — Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 1 Oct. 2025 Attend the Fiddler Crab Festival Every February over Presidents’ Day weekend, the three-day Fiddler Crab Festival brings crabby fun and community pride to Steinhatchee. — Skye Sherman, Southern Living, 5 July 2025 Her dissatisfaction with her crabby old husband drives her into the same state of amorous turmoil that Vanya and Sonya find themselves in. — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for crabby
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crabby
  1. irritable
  2. restless
  3. grouchy
  4. grumpy
  5. displeased
  6. cranky
  7. querulous
  8. nervous
Adjective
  • And this new Godzilla, entirely computer-generated, is an irritable muscle of spikes and scales, or like a sort of angry gothic pineapple.
    — Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Murray says her own experience has made her more understanding when female colleagues seem more tired or irritable than usual, particularly when the behavior is out of character.
    — Jo Ann Liguori, Flow Space, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of irritable
Adjective
  • Following the restless night, the animals’ sleep windows lengthened while their total REM-like time jumped from roughly nine minutes to seventeen.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Netflix’s org chart might be in crisis, and its subscribers are growing increasingly restless about the awful cadence of content worth caring about.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of restless
Adjective
  • Hig has bunkered down with a grouchy companion, Bangley (Josh Brolin), who thrives in this harsh world.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Everything about it was meant to be a corrective against that straight white, grouchy private detective.
    — Caroline Reilly, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of grouchy
Adjective
  • Ask to see the set that still remains—just watch out for the grumpy resident dog, who is best admired from afar.
    — Lale Arikoglu, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Breakfast with the Grinch brings the belovedly grumpy character to the table for waffle stations, cookie decorating and plenty of festive photo ops.
    — Alexandra Emanuelli, Southern Living, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of grumpy
Adjective
  • Nearby, a displeased lawyer squabbles about a case into his phone.
    — Maddie Connors, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Kraft, his teammates and coaches have been giving the fans plenty to be displeased about.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of displeased
Adjective
  • In the movie, viewers see the regal structure, still intact, glimpsed through the office window of cranky CIA bureau chief MJ (Steve Buscemi), a key player in orchestrating the chaos.
    — Lale Arikoglu, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Both sides get cranky in court filings Prosecutors and the defense have been getting crankier in their court filings.
    — Jeffrey Collins, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of cranky
Adjective
  • The Lilliputians are as small-minded as their size and conduct querulous, violent debates about which end of an egg to crack (so obviously similar to the theological complexities of Swift’s own day).
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The American right, too, is in a shifting, querulous state.
    — Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2026
Definition of querulous
Adjective
  • Eha Retreat offers a full nervous-system reset through forest rituals and Nordic coziness.
    — Nicole Trilivas, Travel + Leisure, 9 Nov. 2026
  • Nora is stuttery; Michael is relaxed; Saeed is nervous; Johnny is cooler than ice.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of nervous

Browse Nearby Words

crabbing
crabby
crabs
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Crabby.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crabby. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gauntlet

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All