grumpy

[gruhm-pee] / ˈgrʌm pi /

ADJECTIVE

in a bad mood

Synonyms

STRONGEST

cantankerous crotchety grouchy irritable sullen surly testy

WEAK

bad-tempered crabby cross disgruntled dissatisfied griping grumbling peevish pettish petulant querulous sulky truculent

Antonyms

STRONGEST

cheerful happy nice pleasant

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.

“Trips to China have made me grumpy and given me a bad attitude toward American-market EVs,” wrote Kevin Williams at InsideEVs.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026

"You get grumpy when you get delays at airports but we should think about people who are dying."

From BBC • Mar. 1, 2026

Instead, grumpy naysayers say our brains conduct “cognitive offload.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 7, 2025

Romano shared that Boyle was nothing like his grumpy character Frank.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 24, 2025

By the front doors are metal detectors manned by large grumpy people who perform random bag searches.

From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick

Vocabulary lists containing grumpy

"Dr. Seuss" by Jill Foran

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Shiloh

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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for November 26–December 2, 2022

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