grouchy

English

Etymology

US 1895. From grouch +‎ -y. Originally US college student slang.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹaʊt͡ʃi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊtʃi

Adjective

grouchy (comparative grouchier, superlative grouchiest)

1. (originally university slang) Irritable; easily upset; angry; tending to complain. [From 1895]

   His boss gets grouchy when deadlines draw near.

   • 1911, Jack London, chapter III, in The Abysmal Brute:

     Not that young Pat had a nasty temper, or was grouchy as his father had feared.

   • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter XXXI, in Babbitt:

     He went in to mumble that he was "sorry, didn't mean to be grouchy," and to inquire as to her interest in movies.

   • 1922, Henry William Fischer, “Author's Preface”, in Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field:

     In Berlin I once heard Susie Clemens—ill-fated, talented girl, who died so young—say to her father: "Grouchy again! They do say that you can be funny when company is around—too bad that you don't consider Henry Fisher company."

Synonyms

• cranky, grumpy, tetchy; See also Thesaurus:irritable

Derived terms

• grouchies
• grouchily
• grouchiness
• ungrouchy

Related terms

• grouch

Translations

irritable; easily upset; angry; tending to complain

• Dutch: knorrig (nl), prikkelbaar (nl), kwaad (nl)
• Finnish: ärtyisä (fi)
• French: grincheux (fr)
• German: genervt (de)
• Greek: κακότροπος (el) (kakótropos)

  Ancient: δύσκολος (dúskolos)

• Japanese: 不機嫌な (fukigen-na)
• Latin: ācriculus
• Maori: ārita, āritarita, kiriweti, kirikawa, pukukino, whanewhane
• Plautdietsch: brumsch
• Portuguese: irritado (pt) m, reclamão m, mal humorado m
• Russian: ворчливый (ru) (vorčlivyj)
• Scots: crabbit
• Scottish Gaelic: crosta, gruamach
• Spanish: irritable (es), malhumorado (es), gruñón (es), refunfuñón