adj.

1. Ill-tempered and quarrelsome; disagreeable: disliked her cantankerous landlord.
2. Difficult to handle: “had to use liquid helium, which is supercold, costly and cantankerous” (Boston Globe).

[Perhaps from Middle English contek, dissension (influenced by such words as rancorous and cankerous), from Anglo-Norman contec, possibly from Latin contāctus, past participle of contingere, to touch. See contact.]

cantankerously can·tan'ker·ous·ly adv.
cantankerousness can·tan'ker·ous·ness n.

adjective

Having or showing a bad temper: bad-tempered, crabbed, cranky, cross, disagreeable, fretful, grouchy, grumpy, ill-tempered, irascible, irritable, nasty, peevish, petulant, querulous, snappish, snappy, surly, testy, ugly, waspish. Informal crabby, mean. Idioms: out of sorts. See attitude/good attitude/bad attitude/neutral attitude.

adj

Definition: difficult, crabby
Antonyms: easy, good-natured, happy, nice, pleasant

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IN BRIEF: Bad-tempered or quarrelsome.

The bear was always a little cantankerous in the mornings.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - krakilsk

Nederlands (Dutch)
humeurig, ruzieachtig

Français (French)
adj. - acariâtre

Deutsch (German)
adj. - streitsüchtig, launenhaft

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - εριστικός, καβγατζής

Italiano (Italian)
attaccabrighe

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - impertinente, mal-humorado

Русский (Russian)
сварливый

Español (Spanish)
adj. - malhumorado, arisco, irritable

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - grälsjuk

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
心地不良的, 爱吵架的

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 心地不良的, 愛吵架的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 심술궂은

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 意地悪の, 御しにくい, けんか好きの, 怒りっぽい

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) مشاكس, نكد, شرس, , مشاغب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮איש-ריב, רגזן‬

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