crotchety

English

WOTD – 29 April 2009

Alternative forms

• crochety

Etymology

From crotchet +‎ -y, using crotchet in the 16th-century sense of a whim or fancy.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɒtʃ.ə.tɪ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɑ.t͡ʃɪ.ti/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

crotchety (comparative crotchetier or more crotchety, superlative crotchetiest or most crotchety)

1. Cranky, disagreeable, or stubborn, especially if prone to odd whims or fancies.
   • 1929, William Faulkner, “The Sound and the Fury”, in The Sound and the Fury & As I Lay Dying, New York, N.Y.: The Modern Library, published 1946, →OCLC, page 184:

     He wouldnt even let old Wilkie touch it do you remember Gerald but always gathered it himself and made his own julep. He was as crochety about his julep as an old maid, measuring everything by a recipe in his head.

   • 2019 November 3, Andrew Anthony, “David Mitchell: ‘I have no reason to have these apocalyptic musings’”, in The Observer‎^[1], →ISSN:

     He has a happy home life, two sitcoms on the go and a new book in the offing. So why is the comedian, actor and Observer columnist still so crotchety?

Derived terms

• crotchetily
• crotchetiness
• uncrotchety

 

Translations

cranky, disagreeable or stubborn

• Bulgarian: капризен (bg) (kaprizen)
• Czech: vrtošivý
• Finnish: oikukas (fi), äksy (fi)
• German: launisch (de), quengelig, knatschig (de)
• Maori: kirikawa
• Russian: капри́зный (ru) m (kapríznyj), своенра́вный (ru) m (svojenrávnyj), прихотли́вый (ru) m (prixotlívyj), вздо́рный (ru) m (vzdórnyj)

See also

• old man yells at cloud