cranky

adjective

KRANG-kee/ˈkɹæŋki/

Formscrankier, crankiest

6 meanings of cranky

1
adjective
In a bad mood and easy to annoy or upset.
The baby gets cranky when she misses her nap.
After the long drive, everyone in the car was hungry and cranky.
Similargrumpy, irritable, crabby, grouchy, cross
Oppositecheerful, easygoing, genial
2
adjective
Not working well because something is wrong with it, usually said of a machine.
Our cranky old washing machine stops in the middle of every load.
The printer at school is cranky and jams all the time.
Similarshaky
Oppositereliable, dependable
Note
3
adjective
A bit strange in the head and odd in the way they act.
Our cranky neighbor collects broken clocks and talks to each one by name.
The town's cranky old inventor built a flying bicycle in his barn.
Similareccentric, odd, peculiar, dotty, batty
Oppositenormal, conventional, sane
Note
4
adjective
Of a ship, likely to tip over because its load is packed badly or it has too little weight low down.
The cranky ship leaned hard to one side as soon as the wind picked up.
With all the heavy boxes piled on deck, the boat felt cranky and unsafe.
Similarcrank
Oppositestiff, stable
Note

Less common meanings

5
adjectivearchaic
Full of energy and life.
After a good night's sleep, the old dog was cranky and full of play again.
The cranky little pony pranced across the field, eager to run.
Note
6
adjectiveobsolete
Weak and not feeling well.
Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of cranky apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It comes from the word crank with the ending -y added.