as in cantankerous
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for curmudgeonly
Adjective
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Smith plays Hanna, a cantankerous nonagenarian, who patrols the Golden Gate Bridge every day and intervenes when people get too close to the edge.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
6 Aug. 2025 -
The comedic elements of Eleanor the Great work mostly because of Squibb’s solid performance as the sometimes cantankerous and slightly overbearing mother.—
Lovia Gyarkye,
HollywoodReporter,
20 May 2025
Adjective
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Their aggressive, ornery, and unpredictable nature has earned them the nickname Black Death.—
Kris Millgate,
Outdoor Life,
7 Aug. 2025
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Meanwhile, eighty-three-year-old Harrison Ford earned his first Emmy nod for his role as the ornery therapist on the show Shrinking.—
Taylor Wilson,
USA Today,
16 July 2025
Adjective
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Trying to Kill Each Other' And Walken is marvelous — querulous, petty, cruel — as the Emperor.—
Tom Gliatto,
Peoplemag,
29 Feb. 2024
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Instead, Gerwig and Baumbach promote querulous sloganeering.—
Armond White,
National Review,
19 July 2023
Adjective
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Anna’s surly 15-year-old daughter Harper (Julia Butters) is vehemently opposed to the possibility of being uprooted and moved to London.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Aug. 2025
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This is because, little under a year after being handed a landslide majority by the U.K. electorate, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is deeply unpopular and thrashing around for ways to appease a surly and resentful public.—
Ian King,
CNBC,
11 June 2025
Adjective
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Nothing adds depth to an irascible curmudgeon quite like an irrational love of pets that do not love you back.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
6 Aug. 2025
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Asked whether Skydance, which is in the process of buying Paramount Global, parent company of his network Comedy Central, would cancel the irascible talk show, Stewart essentially shrugged his shoulders.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
17 July 2025
Adjective
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Cite this Entry
“Curmudgeonly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/curmudgeonly. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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