Sample sentences for CANTANKEROUS

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Definition

tending to be grumpy, argumentative, and uncooperative

He is a cantankerous old man who seldom has something good to say.

cantankerous = tending to be grumpy, argumentative, and uncooperative

She presided over the quarrelsome and cantankerous congressional testimony.
"She was conscious to the last, almost. Conscious," he smiled, "and cantankerous."
Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird

cantankerous = tending to be grumpy, argumentative, and uncooperative

Remember, I'm used to cantankerous cars.
Barbara Kingsolver -- The Bean Trees

cantankerous = difficult

"He was a cantankerous brute," Salamano said.
Albert Camus -- The Stranger

cantankerous = tending to be grumpy, argumentative, and uncooperative

But people did come, and did sit and chew and swallow, their Adam's apples bobbing, .... as if there were nothing even a little breathtaking in Otis the waiter (formerly a cantankerous cook) actually waiting table, exactly as ordered.
Gish Jen -- Typical American

cantankerous = tending to be grumpy, argumentative, and uncooperative

She likes waking up to the sound of Alyona bleating in the morning, and the harmlessly cantankerous cook, Adiba, who works marvels in the kitchen.
Khaled Hosseini -- A Thousand Splendid Suns
Cranky, cantankerous, irritable and that's when she's in a good mood, Scatty said.
Micheal Scott -- The Alchemyst
He was a cantankerous troublemaker, but the Circle blood ran deep.
Ted Dekker -- White: The Great Pursuit
He just has the high cantankerous moral shrinks.
Robert Penn Warren -- All the King's Men
"I tried," the shrink behind the door said, "to submit myself to that man, to the ghost of that cantankerous Jew.
Thomas Pynchon -- The Crying of Lot 49
I'm getting old and cantankerous.
John Steinbeck -- East of Eden
"I'm well on my way to becoming a cantankerous old witch."
Margaret Atwood -- Cat's Eye
Judge Glass was his usual cantankerous self, barking at defense attorneys and sniping at defendants.
Scott Pratt -- An Innocent Client
She made it more difficult for him by adopting a cantankerous tone.
W. Somerset Maugham -- Of Human Bondage
Clean water filled the barrels, fresh rushes lined the floor, and a cantankerous old goat was on the menu.
Henry H. Neff -- The Fiend And The Forge
After Mom and Dad left, Erma became even more cantankerous.
Jeannette Walls -- The Glass Castle
They were all there—the deaf ammoomas, the cantankerous, arthritic appoopans, the pining wives, scheming uncles, children with the runs.
Arundhati Roy -- The God of Small Things
Some men are too cantankerous for anything—don't know how to make the best of a bad job—don't see things as they are—as they are, my boy!
Joseph Conrad -- Lord Jim
"I guess this cantankerous woman is getting out of here," Gramps said.
Sharon Creech -- Walk Two Moons

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