| 单词 | cantankerous |
| 释义 | cantankerous (once / 10697 pages) adj If someone is cantankerous he has a difficult disposition. Take care not to throw your ball into the yard of the cantankerous old man down the street — he'll cuss you out and keep your ball. The origin of cantankerous is unclear (it may be at least partly from Middle English contek 'dissension'), but ever since it first appeared in plays from the 1770s, it's been a popular way to describe someone who is quarrelsome and disagreeable. It is usually applied to people, but stubborn animals like mules are also described as cantankerous. Events can be cantankerous too, like a cantankerous debate. Some synonyms are cranky, bad-tempered, irritable, irascible. WORD FAMILYcantankerous: cantankerousest, cantankerously USAGE EXAMPLESSutter was a fixture at the Capitol and on the campaign trail where he softened the image of the cantankerous governor. Washington Times(Dec 30, 2016) Indeed, the subject turns this often cantankerous man downright cheerful. The New Yorker(Nov 23, 2016) Others, like the World Cup champion women’s national team and its fight for pay equality, are cantankerous and complex. New York Times(Nov 22, 2016) 1adj stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate Syn bloody-minded obstinate, stubborn, unregenerate tenaciously unwilling or marked by tenacious unwillingness to yield 2adj having a difficult and contrary disposition "a cantankerous and venomous-tongued old lady"- Dorothy Sayers Syn crotchety, ornery ill-natured having an irritable and unpleasant disposition |
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