Words / C2

kan-TANGK-uh-r-uh-s/kænˈtæŋkərəs/

Cantankerous means bad-tempered and argumentative, often of an old stubborn person: a cantankerous neighbour, cantankerous about the minutes. Grumpy is everyday; irascible is a close formal cousin. Canker is a disease — a lookalike. Do not call a precise, evidence-based objection cantankerous.

Meaning

Bad-tempered and argumentative, often in an old, stubborn way.

Examples

• “A cantankerous objection still named the missing date; a sulk did not.”
• “A cantankerous objection still named the missing date; a sulk named nobody.”
• “Grumpy is everyday. Argumentative is wider. Irascible is quick to anger. A dated, sour manner is the extra flavour of cantankerous. A correct safety point is not cantankerous because it is inconvenient.”

Good to know

Quarrelsome; crabby. Everyday: grumpy. Close: irascible. Mix-up: canker. A well-evidenced objection is not a mood.

Near in meaning

grumpy

New