Yahoo Web Search

Search results

1. Dictionary

   cranky

   /ˈkraŋki/

   adjective

   • 1. eccentric or strange: informal British "a cranky scheme to pipe ground-level ozone into the stratosphere" Similar eccentricbizarreweirdpeculiaroddquirkyavant-gardeunconventionaloff-centrestrangeoutlandishridiculousludicrousmadinsanecrazyabsurdinformal:wackyscrewynuttynutscrackpotcrackedoddballkinkyoff the wallway outdippycuckoodaftkookywackoleft-fieldinformal, dated:dilly
   • 2. bad-tempered; irritable: North American "he was cranky after eight hours of working" Similar bad-temperedirritableirascibletetchytestygrumpygrouchycrotchetyin a (bad) moodill-temperedill-naturedill-humouredpeevishhaving got out of bed on the wrong sidecrossfractiousdisagreeablecantankerouscurmudgeonlypettishcrabbedcrabbywaspishpricklypepperytouchyscratchycrustyspleneticshrewishshort-temperedhot-temperedquick-tempereddyspepticcholericbiliousliverishcross-grainedas cross as two sticksinformal:snappishsnappychippyon a short fuseshort-fusedshirtystroppynarkyrattyeggylike a bear with a sore headornerypeckishsoreheadedsnakyinformal, dated:waxymiffy
   • 3. (of a machine) working erratically: "after a juddering landing the cranky plane eased up the runway"

   Word Origin late 18th century (in the sense ‘sickly, in poor health’): perhaps from obsolete (counterfeit) crank ‘a rogue feigning sickness’, from Dutch or German krank ‘sick’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. crankily adverb
   • 2. crankiness noun

   Scrabble Points: 15

   • C

     3

   • R

     1

   • A

     1

   • N

     1

   • K

     5

   • Y

     4

   Powered by Oxford Dictionaries

   More definitions, origin and scrabble points