cross-grained

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cross-grained
Adjective
  • Getty portrayed the cantankerous but charming matriarch Sophia Petrillo, the mother of Arthur's character, and McClanahan played the flirtatious Southern belle Blanche.
    Ashley Hume , Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Tudyk played Sonny, a robot who helps the cantankerous detective uncover the truth behind his creator's death.
    Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Over the weekend, reports emerged that the higher tariffs followed a disagreeable Thursday phone call between Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and Trump — which Swiss officials rejected, according to Reuters.
    Sophie Kiderlin,Jenni Reid, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2025
  • Trump and his supporters prefer a happy history, a pleasant history that arouses patriotism by overlooking disagreeable people and despicable events that sully the nation’s reputation and mar the magnificence of the American story.
    William C. Hine, Twin Cities, 23 July 2025
Adjective
  • Trying to Kill Each Other' And Walken is marvelous — querulous, petty, cruel — as the Emperor.
    Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 29 Feb. 2024
  • Instead, Gerwig and Baumbach promote querulous sloganeering.
    Armond White, National Review, 19 July 2023
Adjective
  • That continues when the matriarch finally passes away 20 years later, leaving equally bilious offspring Laras (Dinda Kanyadewi) in charge.
    Dennis Harvey, Variety, 6 Aug. 2025
  • 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
Adjective
  • But Kael sensed in her less dyspeptic moments that there was something special about Redford.
    Stephen Galloway, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • At 0-2, the Chiefs may be a little more ornery than usual.
    Andrew Greif, NBC news, 22 Sep. 2025
  • The goal is to capitalize on the holidays when kids will be out of school and eager to see some ornery avians.
    Brent Lang, Variety, 18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • In the solo debut for the writer-director Shih-Ching Tsou, a mother and her two daughters—one a surly teenager, the other a curious child—build a home in Taipei.
    Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 20 Sep. 2025
  • In the span of a few months rehabbing in Los Angeles in 2023, an oft-surly 40-year-old quarterback became pals with a 25-year-old goofball of a running back.
    Luca Evans, Denver Post, 30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Julia is playing a version of herself that is more irascible.
    THR Staff, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025
  • Eventually, Kaplan, now 80, and co-creator Alan Sacks decided that Kaplan should play a former student who returns to his high school as a teacher, who’s now in charge of a remedial class of irascible teens.
    Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Cross-grained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cross-grained. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.

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