Cantankerous

Definitions: Cantankerous

Cantankerous

Adjective

1. (British) stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate; "unions...have never been as bloody-minded about demarcation as the shipbuilders"- Spectator.

2. Having a difficult and contrary disposition; "a cantankerous and venomous-tongued old lady"- Dorothy Sayers.

Date "cantankerous" was first used: 1772. (references)

Note: Cantankerous \Can*tan"ker*ous\, adjective. Perverse; contentious; ugly; malicious. [Colloq.]. (Websters 1913)

Synonyms: Cantankerous

Synonyms: bloody-minded (adj), crotchety (adj), ornery (adj). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Irascibility	Querulous, captious, moodish; quarrelsome, contentious, disputatious; pugnacious; (bellicose); cantankerous, exceptious; restiff; (perverse) a; churlish; (discourteous).
Sullenness	Cross, crossgrained; perverse, wayward, humorsome; restiff, restive; cantankerous, intractable, exceptious, sinistrous, deaf to reason, unaccommodating, rusty, froward; cussed.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Cantankerous

English words defined with "cantankerous": crotchety, curmudgeon ♦ ornery. (references)

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	Especially cantankerous ones. (Law & Order; writing credit: Peter Yeldham)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Book of Cat Names: Amorous Alley Cats, Finicky Felines, Tender Tabbies, Cantankerous Kitties & Tony Tomcats (reference) Cantankerous Crow (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Author	Quotation
Chuang Tse	Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Title	Author	Quote
Grapes of Wrath	Steinbeck, John	A cantankerous, complaining, mischievous, laughing face.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

"Cantankerous" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Cantankerous" is used about 44 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)	100%	44	51,500

Expression using "cantankerous": cantankerous crotchety ornery. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "cantankerous"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		i pashoqërueshëm (dissocial), grindavec (arguer, captious, caviller, contentious, crab, crank, croaker, disputant, fractious, fretful, ill tempered, noisy person, peevish, pettish, quarrelsome, spitfire, wrangler). (various references)

Arabic		‏محب للخصام (quarrelsome, squabble), ‏مشاكس (aggressive, bitchy, contentious, currish, dissentious, fresh, obstreperous, ornery, petulant, pugnacious, quarrelsome, rowdy, sorehead, termagant, truculent), ‏عدواني (aggressive, offensive, petulant, quarrelsome, squabble, truculent). (various references)

Bulgarian		свадлив (contentious, crabbed, crusty, cursed, quarrelsome, rowdy, shrewish, termagant, ugly, vixenish), опак (contrary, crabby, cranky, cross-grained, perverse, rambunctious, restive, reverse, wayward, wrong). (various references)

Chinese		爱�"�反调. (various references)

Czech		svárlivý (argumentative, bellicose, belligerent, bitchy, contentious, quarrelsome, termagant), popudlivý (bad tempered, irritable, short tempered, testy), nevrlý (bad tempered, bilious, crabbed, crusty, gruff, grumpy, ill tempered, morose, petulant, querulous, snappy, sour, splenetic, sullen, surly), mrzoutský (crabbed, crotchety, crusty, morose, querulous), hašteřivý (argumentative, contentious, quarrelsome, querulous, strident). (various references)

Farsi		چموش (Outlaw, Restive, Rowdyish, Skittish), بدخلق (Crosspatch, Dyspeptic, Grouchy, Gruff, Grumpy, Moody, Ornery, Ramshackle, Rowdyish), بداخم (Stuffy, Sulky). (various references)

French		revêche, hargneux, agressif, acariâtre. (various references)

German		mürrisch (crabby, crotchety, crusty, dour, fractious, glum, glumly, grumpy, liverish, morose, morosely, peevish, sulky, sullen, sullenly, surly, testy), zänkisch (cantankerously, hagglish, nagging, quarrelsome, quarrelsomely, shrewish, vixenish). (various references)

Greek		καυγατζήσ (brawler, broiler, disputant, quarrelsome, scraper, scrappy, squabbler, wrangler), στρυφνόσ (hard, harsh), γκρινιάρησ (crabbed, fault finder, fussy, grouch, grouchy, growler, mutterer, nagger, pettish, snarler, snarling, sorehead), δύστροποσ (bloody minded, captious, crabbed, cranky, cross, fretful, grouch, illtempered, morose, peevish, pettish, recalcitrant, shrewish, splenetic, splenish, sullen, surly, testy, untoward, vixenish, waspish, wayward). (various references)

Hebrew		ר�'זן (bad tempered, crusty, ill tempered, irascible, peppery, petulant, tartar). (various references)

Hungarian		civódó (squabbling). (various references)

Indonesian		senang bertengkar. (various references)

Italian		bisbetico (crabbed, ill-humored, ill-humoured, shrewish, snappish). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		旋毛曲がり (eccentric, perversity). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		つむじまがり (eccentric, perversity). (various references)

Korean		심� 궂은 (shrewish). (various references)

Manx		granganagh (captious, cattish, catty, churlish, crabbed, crabbed of person, crabby, cross, cross annoyed, cynical, disagreeable, fractious, fretful, grumpy, ill-humoured, ill-natured, ill-tempered, niggly person, peevish, snappy), friogganagh (bad-tempered, bristly, crabby, echinoid, edgy, finned, finny, liverish, offended, prickly, ratty, setaceous, stickleback, touchy). (various references)

Pig Latin		antankerouscay

Portuguese		caprichoso (arbitrary, caprice, capricious, crotchety, difficult, extravagant, faddy, fanciful, fitful, freakish, Kittle, maggoty, notional, peevish, skittish, temperamental, tidy, viewy, wayward, whim, whimsical), perverso (damnable, devilish, diabolic, diabolical, evil, ill-conditioned, malicious, malignant, mischievous, nasty, naughty, nefarious, perverse, sinful, unjust, unnatural, unrighteous, vicious, vile, villainous, viperous, wicked), mal-humorado (bad tempered, choleric, crusty, glum, ill timed, ill-humoured, illiberal, Moody, mumpish, snappish, snappy, snotty, splenetic, sulky, sullen, surly, techy, testy, tetchy), irritadiço (brittle, choleric, peevish, pettish, prickly, short tempered, sore, splenetic, vinegary), impertinente (arrogant, brash, currish, impertinent, mumps, peewit, pernickety, pettitoes, petulant, querulous, rat, ratty, saucy, snappish, snappy, techy, testy, tetchy), briguento (pugnacious, quarrelsome, termagant). (various references)

Romanian		certãreţ (brawler, captious, discordant, eristic, factious, frumpish, peevish, pugnacious, quarrelsome, snappy), supãrãcios (cross-grained, huffish, huffy, humoursome, irascible, irritable, liveried, peevish, pettish, scrupulous, short tempered, sour, testy, tetchy, touchy), arţãgos (contradictious, crabbed, cross-grained, crusty, currish, fractious, gruff, peevish, pettish, quarrelsome, snappy). (various references)

Russian		сварливый (contentious, currish, grumpy, ill tempered, peevish, quarrelsome, shrewish, stroppy, termagant, vixenish), придирчивый (captious, carping, contentious, exceptive, hypercritical, overcritcal, pernickety, persnickety, quarrelsome, snappish). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		svadljiv (bloody minded, contentious, fractious, quarrelsome, scrappy, shrewish), mrzovoljan (cranky, glum, grouchy, ill-humored, petulant, saturnine, shirty, spleenful, splenetic, sulky, testy). (various references)

Spanish		quisquilloso (fussy, pernickety, persnickety, pettifogging, petty, spiky, squeamish, touchy), malhumorado (bad tempered, bilious, crabbed, crabby, cross, disagreeable, disgruntled, fractious, glum, grouchy, grumpy, ill tempered, ill-humored, ill-humoured, low-spirited, moody, morose, mumpish, peevish, pettish, petulant, splenetic, sulky, sullen, surly), arisco (doggish, doggy, sharp, surly, vicious). (various references)

Swedish		grälsjuk (contentious, currish, quarrelsome, shrewish), elak (angry, bad, blackhearted, cattish, catty, caustic, dark, evel, evil, horrid, ill, ill natured, malicious, malignant, mean, nasty, naughty, troublesome, ugly, unkind, venomous, wicked). (various references)

Turkish		inatçı (balky, bullet-head, bull-headed, contrary, contumacious, cussed, die hard, difficult, dogged, dour, fractious, hard bitten, hard-headed, hard-mouthed, hard-nosed, headstrong, heady, indocile, inflexible, insistent, intractable, mule, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, obstinate person, opinionated, persistent, pertinacious, perverse, pigheaded, rebellious, recalcitrant, refractory, restive, self willed, self-opinionated, set, spiky, stern, sticker, stickler, sticky, stiff necked, strongheaded, strong-willed, stubborn, tenacious, unbending, uncompromising, unyielding, wilful, willful, wrongheaded), huysuz (acrimonious, as cross as two sticks, bad tempered, bilious, churlish, crabbed, crabby, crank, cranky, cross-grained, crosspatch, crotchety, crusty, cursed, difficult, disagreeable, disgruntled, doggish, farouche, fractious, fretful, gnarled, grouchy, gruff, grumbling, grumpy, ill natured, ill tempered, ill-humored, ill-humoured, liverish, mean, Moody, out of humour, out of sorts, peeved, peevish, peppery, perverse, pettish, petulant, prickly, quarrelsome, querulous, ratty, rusty, shirty, snappish, spleenful, spleenish, splenetic, stroppy, sulky, surly, tetchy, thrawn, ugly, untoward, vicious, vixenish, waspish, wildcat, wrongheaded), hırçın (acrimonious, combative, gruff, ill tempered, irritable, peeved, peevish, pettish, pugnacious, shrewish, sour, tetchy, vinegary, vixenish), geçimsiz (difficult, out of tune, peppery, quarrelsome, unmusical), aksi (adverse, awkward, bad tempered, bilious, bloody minded, contra, contra-, contrary, counter, crabbed, crabby, cross, cross-grained, crosspatch, crotchety, doggish, dour, evil, fractious, fretful, Froward, gruff, ill natured, ill tempered, ill-humored, ill-humoured, inverse, negatory, opposite, peevish, perverse, petulant, recalcitrant, refractory, reverse, shirty, snappish, snuffy, spleenful, spleenish, stroppy, stubborn, sullen, surly, tart, testy, unfavorable, unfavourable, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky, untoward, wrongheaded). (various references)

Ukranian		сварливий (angular, contentious, currish, doggish, frumpish, grumpy, ill tempered, ill-conditioned, peevish, pugnacious, quarreling, quarrelling, quarrelsome, shrewish, termagant, ugly), нелагідний (inductile), причепливий (captious, carping, catching, catchy, censorious, fault finding, fuddy-duddy, hypercritical, notional, pernickety, persnickety, snappish, snorty). (various references)

Vietnamese		thích cãi nhau, khó tính (difficile, finical, finicking, finicky, finikin, miminy-piminy, nicely, perverse, select, unaccommodating), hay gắt gỏng hay gây gỗ. (various references)

Welsh		cecrus (acrimonious, pugilistic, quarrelsome). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Anglo-French	1100-1600	contec. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "cantankerous": cantankerously, cantankerousness, cantankerousnesses. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Cantankerous" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: cankankerous, cantakerous, cantancarous, cantancerous, cantankerious, cantankerrous, cantankeruos, cantankerus, cantankorous, cantankrous, cantanverous, catankerous, contankerous, kantankerous. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "cantankerous" (pronounced kanta"ngkerus)
6	-a" ng k er u s	rancorous.
4	-k er u s	decorous.
3	-er u s	adulterous, adventurous, amorous, avarice, barbarous, boisterous, cancerous, carboniferous, carnivorous, coniferous, dangerous, fossiliferous, generous, glamorous, herbivorous, heterosporous, homosporous, humerus, humorous, insectivorous, lecherous, murderous, numerous, odorous, omnivorous, onerous, overgenerous, oviparous, ovoviviparous, phosphorous, phosphorus, ponderous, precancerous, preposterous, prosperous, rapturous, rhinoceros, rigorous, slanderous, sonorous, tetramerous, thunderous, timorous, traitorous, treacherous, unglamorous, uterus, vigorous, viviparous, vociferous.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-a-c-e-k-n-n-o-r-s-t-u"
	-3 letters: aeronauts, cankerous, courantes, courtesan, nectarous, nocturnes, nonskater, oceanauts, outrances.
	-4 letters: aeronaut, ancestor, araceous, caterans, centaurs, construe, counters, courante, courants, crankest, crankous, enactors, nacreous, nauseant, neutrons, nocturne, nocturns, nunataks, oatcakes, oceanaut, outearns, outraces, outrance, outranks, recounts, recusant, resonant, strucken, tonneaus, trounces, uncrates, unornate, unreason.
	-5 letters: acerous, acetous, aerosat, anankes, ancones, annates, anoraks, anurans, arcuate, arenous, askance, atoners, caesura, cankers, canners, canters, cantons, cantors, carates, carnets, carouse, cartons, catenas, cateran, centaur, coarsen, coaster, coaters, conatus, conkers, connate, conners, consent, contras, contuse, corneas, cornets, cornute, coteaus, counter, courant, couters, cratons, cunners, curates, enactor, encrust, kantars, karates, korunas, narcose, nascent, natrons, natures, nectars, nektons, neurons, neuston, neutron, nocturn, nonarts, nonuser, nuances, nunatak, nutcase, oatcake, octanes, ostraca, outearn, outrace, outrank, rackets, rankest, ransack, recants, reckons, recount, restack, restock, retacks, rockets, sacaton, santour, saunter, scanner, scanter, scouter, scunner, senator, sonance, soutane, stacker, stocker, stunner, surcoat, tackers, tankers, tanners, tanrecs, tenours, tonneau, tonners, tonsure, toucans, trances, treason, trounce, tuckers, turacos, turnons, uncakes, uncorks, uncrate, unknots, unstack, untacks, untaken.
	Words containing the letters "a-a-c-e-k-n-n-o-r-s-t-u"
	+2 letters: cantankerously.
	+4 letters: cantankerousness.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.