adjective
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informal cross; irritable; contrary
-
full of crotchets
Other Word Forms
- crotchetiness noun
Etymology
Origin of crotchety
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He’s a mostly benevolent tyrant, but his crotchety side can get ugly and he’s not always in control of his temper.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
This is a place where everyone knows everyone else and might find stuck-in-their-ways folks like Harry to be charming or crotchety.
From Salon • Feb. 6, 2025
The show, “Extremely Inappropriate!,” features a foul-talking, crotchety physical education teacher and widowed father who boards a public bus in 1986 Japan and finds himself whisked to 2024.
From New York Times • May 29, 2024
The Grumpy Café may not sound like the friendliest place to grab a coffee but inside the large, warm meeting place in the centre of Hastings, the atmosphere is anything but crotchety.
From BBC • Oct. 19, 2023
Taylor is perfectly earnest, and Martin is perfectly crotchety, and Abby is so lively and funny that it’s almost like our conversation in the dressing room never happened.
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
