curmudgeonly

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for curmudgeonly
Adjective
  • The Post isn’t as great as All the President’s Men — this movie is sort of like its prequel — but its cast is superb, especially Tom Hanks as a cantankerous Bill Bradlee and Meryl Streep as a conflicted Kay Graham.
    Tim Grierson, Vulture, 20 June 2025
  • Her cantankerous dad undoubtedly gets the best zingers.
    Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 10 June 2025
Adjective
  • Kitty: And grandpa, oh, who is like a lovely but ornery Irish man, Sean: takes one look at the Harry Krishnas, looks at dad like, looks at the Christians again.
    Outside Online, Outside Online, 11 June 2025
  • 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
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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Toby Huss — who voiced the Hills' abrasive neighbor, Kahn, and Hank's irascible father, Cotton — will take over as the voice of Dale in subsequent episodes.
    Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 30 May 2025
  • Hence, in this digital age when many people no longer stock postage stamps or envelopes or have any idea where their nearest postal box might be, only the most irascible of curmudgeons would make the effort.
    Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 May 2025
Adjective
  • As the Platinum Chalice status holder, Adomian adopts an old man’s slow gait and crotchety American geriatric voice to yet another ovation.
    John Roy, Vulture, 8 May 2025
  • Patrick is crotchety and dismissive of their overtures at first, but Bob and Jean talk him around with their passionate belief in the project and intriguing early research.
    David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Adjective
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
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

“Curmudgeonly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/curmudgeonly. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.

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