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CANTANKEROUS: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for CANTANKEROUS?

Need another word that means the same as “cantankerous”? Find 37 synonyms and 30 related words for “cantankerous” in this overview.

Table Of Contents:

Cantankerous as an Adjective
Definitions of "Cantankerous" as an adjective
Synonyms of "Cantankerous" as an adjective (37 Words)
Usage Examples of "Cantankerous" as an adjective
Associations of "Cantankerous" (30 Words)

The synonyms of “Cantankerous” are: bloody-minded, crotchety, ornery, bad-tempered, irascible, irritable, grumpy, grouchy, tetchy, testy, crusty, curmudgeonly, ill-tempered, ill-natured, ill-humoured, peevish, cross, fractious, disagreeable, pettish, crabbed, crabby, waspish, prickly, peppery, touchy, scratchy, splenetic, shrewish, short-tempered, hot-tempered, quick-tempered, dyspeptic, choleric, bilious, liverish, cross-grained

Cantankerous as an Adjective

Definitions of "Cantankerous" as an adjective

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “cantankerous” as an adjective can have the following definitions:

Stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate.
Having a difficult and contrary disposition.
Stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate- Spectator.
Having a difficult and contrary disposition- Dorothy Sayers.
Bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative.

Synonyms of "Cantankerous" as an adjective (37 Words)

bad-tempered	Annoyed and irritable.
bilious	Suffering from or suggesting a liver disorder or gastric distress. A bilious* attack.*
bloody-minded	Stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate- Spectator.
choleric	Easily moved to anger- H.G.Wells. Men of the choleric* type take to kicking and smashing.*
crabbed	(of handwriting) very small and difficult to decipher. His handwriting is crabbed* and hideous.*
crabby	Irritable. He was crabby* at having his siesta interrupted.*
cross	Extending or lying across in a crosswise direction at right angles to the long axis. Cross members should be all steel.
cross-grained	Difficult to deal with.
crotchety	Irritable. He was tired and crotchety.
crusty	Brusque and surly and forbidding. Lake Manyara was ringed by crusty* salt deposits.*
curmudgeonly	Brusque and surly and forbidding. His curmudgeonly* temper.*
disagreeable	Not agreeing with your tastes or expectations. Aspects of his work are disagreeable* to him.*
dyspeptic	Having indigestion or a consequent air of irritable bad temper.
fractious	Unpredictably difficult in operation; likely to be troublesome. King Malcolm struggled to unite his fractious* kingdom.*
grouchy	Annoyed and irritable. The old man grew sulky and grouchy.
grumpy	Annoyed and irritable. He s grumpy* because he hasn t heard from you.*
hot-tempered	Quickly aroused to anger.
ill-humoured	Brusque and surly and forbidding.
ill-natured	Having an irritable and unpleasant disposition.
ill-tempered	Annoyed and irritable.
irascible	Characterized by anger. An irascible* and difficult man.*
irritable	Capable of responding to stimuli. The seeds have been reputed to help conditions such as irritable* bladder.*
liverish	Resembling liver in colour. A liverish* red.*
ornery	Having a difficult and contrary disposition. An ornery* old military man.*
peevish	Having or showing an irritable disposition. A thin peevish* voice.*
peppery	Having a flavour or scent like that of pepper. A hot peppery* dish.*
pettish	(of a person or their behaviour) childishly bad-tempered and petulant. He comes across in his journal entries as spoiled and pettish.
prickly	Covered in prickles. This is a prickly* subject.*
quick-tempered	Quickly aroused to anger.
scratchy	Bad-tempered or irritable. Loudspeakers blaring a scratchy* record.*
short-tempered	Quickly aroused to anger.
shrewish	Bad-tempered or aggressively assertive (typically used of a woman. A shrewish* wife.*
splenetic	Bad-tempered; spiteful. A splenetic* rant.*
testy	Easily irritated or annoyed. His testy* disapproving father.*
tetchy	Easily irritated or annoyed. She had always been tetchy* and impatient with him.*
touchy	Easily upset or offended; oversensitive. The monarchy has become a touchy* topic.*
waspish	Readily expressing anger or irritation. He had a waspish* tongue.*

Usage Examples of "Cantankerous" as an adjective

He can be a cantankerous old fossil at times.
A cantankerous and venomous-tongued old lady.

Associations of "Cantankerous" (30 Words)

angry	Feeling or showing strong annoyance, displeasure, or hostility; full of anger. Angry customers.
choleric	Easily moved to anger- H.G.Wells. Men of the choleric* type take to kicking and smashing.*
complaining	Expressing pain or dissatisfaction of resentment. A complaining* boss.*
crotchety	Having a difficult and contrary disposition- Dorothy Sayers. He was tired and crotchety.
dogged	Stubbornly unyielding- T.S.Eliot. Success required dogged* determination.*
fiery	Consisting of fire or burning strongly and brightly. The sun was a fiery* ball low on the hills.*
fractious	Easily irritated or annoyed. An incorrigibly fractious* young man.*
froward	(of a person) difficult to deal with; contrary.
hardheaded	Unreasonably rigid in the face of argument or entreaty or attack. A hardheaded* appraisal of our position.*
headstrong	Energetically wilful and determined. The headstrong* impulsiveness of youth.*
hidebound	Stubbornly conservative and narrow-minded. They are working to change hidebound* corporate cultures.*
intransigent	An intransigent person. An intransigent* conservative opposed to every liberal tendency.*
irascible	Having or showing a tendency to be easily angered. An irascible* and difficult man.*
obduracy	Resoluteness by virtue of being unyielding and inflexible.
obdurate	Showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings. The child s misery would move even the most obdurate* heart.*
obstinacy	Resolute adherence to your own ideas or desires. His reputation for obstinacy.
obstinate	Tenaciously unwilling or marked by tenacious unwillingness to yield. Her obstinate* determination to pursue a career in radio.*
ornery	Having a difficult and contrary disposition- Dorothy Sayers. An ornery* old military man.*
peevish	Easily irritated or annoyed. A thin peevish* voice.*
pertinacious	Stubbornly unyielding. He worked with a pertinacious* resistance to interruptions.*
pertinacity	Persistent determination.
pigheaded	Obstinate and stupid.
querulous	Complaining in a rather petulant or whining manner. She became querulous* and demanding.*
recalcitrance	The trait of being unmanageable.
recalcitrant	Stubbornly resistant to authority or control. The University suspended the most recalcitrant* demonstrators.*
stubborn	Difficult to move, remove, or cure. A stubborn* refusal to learn from experience.*
temper	Make more temperate acceptable or suitable by adding something else. Whether he praised or cursed me depended on his temper* at the time.*
tenacious	Not readily relinquishing a position, principle, or course of action; determined. A mind not gifted to discover truth but tenacious* to hold it.*
tense	Pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles e g the vowel sound in beat. The bodybuilder s neck muscles tensed.
testy	Easily irritated; impatient and somewhat bad-tempered. She could see him growing quite testy* beneath that polished urbanity.*