Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having a bad disposition; peevish.
- adj. Having eccentric ways; odd.
- adj. Full of bends and turns; crooked: a cranky mountain road.
- adj. Working unpredictably; erratic: a cranky old truck.
- adj. Rickety; loose.
- adj. Nautical Liable to capsize.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Having cranks or turns; checkered.
- Full of cranks; full of whims and crotchets; having the characteristics of a crank.
- Sickly; ailing.
- Nautical, liable to be overset: same as crank, 1.
- In a shaky or loose condition; rickety.
- Merry; cheerful: same as crank.
- n. A pitman.
Wiktionary
- adj. obsolete Weak, unwell.
- adj. of a machine, etc. Not in good working condition; shaky.
- adj. Grouchy, irritable; easily upset.
- adj. Not in perfect mental working order; eccentric, peculiar.
- adj. archaic Full of spirit; spirited.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Full of spirit; crank.
- adj. colloq. Addicted to crotchets and whims; unreasonable in opinions; crotchety.
- adj. Unsteady; easy to upset; crank.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. easily irritated or annoyed
- adj. (used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail
Etymologies
- From crank + -y. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Half the reason we are so goddamn cranky is that we are constantly seeing profoundly talented people passed up for books that are "more commercial" (read: "OMG the hot new dude at school IS ACTUALLY A SUPERNATURAL ENTITY WHO WANTS TO DO IT WITH ME!!!!"); it makes us sad, but the industry right now is not a pretty picture, dear ones.”
“Most of her life, she lived in cranky desperation.”
“Luna Lovegood, also, is too ready to believe in cranky theories.”
“Since being cranky is pretty much the opposite of having a good time, my Powerbook has been hiding out in my backpack for the last few days, while I've been out enjoying that real life I have read so much about on its screen.”
“I am pretty sure I have redefined the word cranky in their minds.”
“Since I'm in cranky mode, I might as well vent some more: If I hear one more person add "God Bless America" to a political statement, up to and including the chief, I think I'll barf.”
“After the fourth inning, he started getting a little, cranky is probably not the right word, but we kept an eye on him pretty closely," Francona said.”
“The Vatican is to urge Catholics to resist experimenting in cranky “alternative” lifestyles, in an attempt to prevent its flock being led astray by the growing popularity of New Age spiritualism.”
“Sometimes, I find myself moody and just plain cranky to him.”
“I’m not advocating for the FAA proposal in any meaningful sense, just pointing out that cranky is misrepresenting things.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cranky’.
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Russian Doll Words
A Russian Doll word is a word that, when you remove the first and last letters, is either the empty string, or a Russian Doll word. These are all of the 6 or more letter Russian Doll words found in...
waspiness, upraisers, strainers, sporangia, raspiness, prelatess, methanals, gaspiness, washings, uprisers, upraises, upraiser and 2373 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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Adjectives with 2 syllables that end ...
angry, bossy, busy, chilly, cheesy, creepy, dirty, early, funny, hairy, happy, healthy and 126 more...
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Fun Words
Words that are fun to say....
gobbledygook, jings, crivens, hullabaloo, wheech, brouhaha, pizzazz, harum-scarum, namby-pamby, pussyfoot, frippery, pitter-patter and 333 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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kat's words
ecumenical, cacophony, clatter, marimba, bamboo, saffron, slice, mercurial, pomegranate, cranky, slipshod, scritch and 511 more...
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Apples to Apples: Green Cards
A complete list of the green cards (adjectives) from the popular word game.
absurd, addictive, adorable, aged, American, ancient, animated, annoying, appetizing, arrogant, awesome, awkward and 237 more...
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Nullologue
nullologue, vaudeville, debauchery, debauched, libertine, nothing, dhadak, tz pf, nothingology, goodbyeology, sharmuta, manifesto and 866 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, C
cryptoxanthin, convent, calcar, chuckle, campanile, covet, complexion, campestral, chirography, counterscarp, caliginous, catabolism and 722 more...
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adjectives
sartorial, saucy, wieldy, wuthering, dilapidated, rough-and-ready, flabbergasted, ravishing, seminal, snooty, galore, scrumptious and 386 more...
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C is for Caddyshack
My C Words
cavalcade, charlie browniest, cakewalk, clambake, caboose, cadaver, caddyshack, cadillac, cahoots, calaboose, cannonball, canopy and 145 more...
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Moods
apathy, cuntificate, quixotic, noxious, fetid, malodorous, trepidation, expectancy, contempt, disgust, terror, fear and 149 more...
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Bad Mood
If you're gonna feel this way, you might as well enjoy it.
curmudgeonly, grumpy, cantankerous, resentful, crusty, pissed, irascible, moody, surly, cranky, peevish, cross and 57 more...
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loonie
Inspired by Peter Reading's "Euphemisms".
crackers, potty, loony, bonkers, nutty, screwy, ga-ga, dull, strange, do-lally, dopey, silly and 83 more...
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The C Word
The next time someone uses the phrase "C Word" ask them if they mean any of the ones on this list. Suggestions Welcome! I'm looking for words that could be used to describe other people, especially...
crotch, communist, cranky, crabby, cantankerous, capricious, cranium, covert, corrupt, charming, cunning, curmudgeonly and 42 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cranky.
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