crotchety.

Easily annoyed and inclined to complain about small matters.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a crotchety neighbor
• a crotchety mood

On the page

A crotchety passenger objected to every stop until the driver offered him the front seat.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Comparative more crotchety; superlative most crotchety when comparison is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description, character. Commonness: moderately common.