crabbed

American  

[krab-id, krabd] / ˈkræb ɪd, kræbd /

adjective

1. grouchy; ill-natured; irritable; churlish.

   Synonyms:

   cantankerous, peevish, cross

2. perverse; contrary; obstinate.

3. hard to understand; intricate and obscure.

4. difficult to read or decipher, as handwriting.

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crabbed British  

/ ˈkræbɪd /

adjective

1. surly; irritable; perverse

2. (esp of handwriting) cramped and hard to decipher

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Other Word Forms

• crabbedly adverb
• crabbedness noun

Etymology

Origin of crabbed

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; crab ³, -ed ³

Example Sentences

She also shaved her head — all to add authenticity as her queen evolved from youth to crabbed old age.

From New York Times • Jun. 15, 2023

Right from the founding, then, analogical reasoning was bold and aspirational as frequently as it was crabbed and limiting.

From Slate • Feb. 15, 2023

In the spring, Thompson crabbed, and when buyers counted crabs, the brothers said, his father often got shorted.

From Washington Post • Nov. 26, 2022

This is a truly crabbed and reductive view of the man and his work.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2021

If you kept going south, on down past Queenstown, the river would hook around in the west, then the north and empty into the Chesapeake Bay, but mostly we crabbed the river.

From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings