cantankerous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ian McKellen plays a cantankerous painter, Michael Jackson’s electrifying talent comes through in a new biopic, Albert Camus’s ‘The Stranger’ gets an elegant adaptation, and much, much more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
But after Christopher left, Julian became a shell of his former self — a cantankerous curmudgeon, known more for his Simon Cowell-esque criticism on the long-running reality show “Art Fight” than his work.
From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2026
More character actor than leading man, he could be relied upon to inject a feisty, fiery machismo and a cantankerous contrariness into the most mainstream Hollywood offering.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
In “Greenberg,” Ben Stiller’s title character is a cantankerous and neurotic New Yorker who has fled west after a nervous breakdown.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025
That made me a bit cantankerous, because crazy as she was, I could see the sense in making a neat row of ground piled on each side to keep the moisture from running off.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
Vocabulary lists containing cantankerous
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Grade 10, List 5
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