curmudgeonly

[ ker-muhj-uhn-lee ]

adjective

1. like or characteristic of a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person:

   While one could point a curmudgeonly finger of blame at “these young kids today,” many older Americans haven't exactly been model citizens either.

adverb

1. in the manner of such a person:

   After several weak episodes the new season seems to be finally snapping into place—although I am, curmudgeonly, a little peeved that it took so long.

Word History and Origins

Origin of curmudgeonly¹

curmudgeon ( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

James Caan should be able to play a curmudgeonly drunk grandpa in his sleep and still get laughs.

From The Daily Beast

Sarah and Mark are happily engaged, and Sarah stumbles onto a job working for a curmudgeonly photographer (Ray Romano).

From The Daily Beast

Curmudgeonly comedian Gilbert Gottfried has a voice and laugh as damaging as fingernails on a blackboard.

From The Daily Beast

James Watson, of the Nobel Prize-winning team that discovered the structure of DNA, played up his curmudgeonly persona to the max.

From The Daily Beast

Or to put the question more directly: When will the curmudgeonly American music labels let it happen?

From The Daily Beast

Positively your behavior appears rather curmudgeonly than heroic!

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• boorish
• dour
• irritable
• morose
• rude
• sullen
• testy
• ugly