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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

cranky en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • [kɹeɪ̯ŋki] ~ [kɹeːŋki] North-Central US
  • /kɹeɪŋki/ Western US, Midland US, Western Pennsylvania, New England
  • (US) audio
  • /-kɪ/ (Scotland)
  • /kɹæŋki/ (Inland-Northern-American)
  • /kɾaŋke/ (Scotland)
  • /-ki/ (Scotland)
  • /kɹaŋkɪj/ (British, Southern, Standard)
  • [kɹeɪŋki] ~ [kɹɛːŋki] ~ [kɹæŋki] Western US, Midland US, Western Pennsylvania, New England
  • /kɹæŋki/ Western US, Midland US, Western Pennsylvania, New England
  • [kɹæŋki] ~ [kɹæə̯ŋki] ~ [kɹɛə̯ŋki] (Southern-US)
  • [kɹɛə̯ŋki] (Inland-Northern-American)
  • /kɹeɪŋki/ (US)
  • /kɹæŋki/ New York City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore
  • /kɹɛŋki/ (New-Zealand)
  • /kɾaŋki/ (Wales)
  • /kɹæŋki/ (Southern-US)
  • /kɹæŋki/ (US)
  • /kɹænki/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /kɹæːnki/ (Australia)
  • [kɹæŋki] New York City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore
  • /kɹeɪŋki/ North-Central US

Etymology

From crank + -y. Compare Middle Low German krankich (“sickly, unwell”).

Meanings

  1. (of a machine, usually) Not in good working condition; defective, faulty.
    • Margaret Cerullo gave a rousing speech, despite the pesky interruptions of a cranky sound system. 1987 December 6, Kris Kleindienst, “Sex On The Table”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 21, page 6:
    • We had seven canoes, all of them dugouts. One was small, one was cranky, and two were old, waterlogged, and leaky. The other three were good. 1914, Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness: The River of Doubt:
  2. Grouchy, grumpy, irritable; easily upset.
    • He got home from a long day at work tired and cranky.
  3. Not in perfect mental working order; eccentric, peculiar.
    • Uncle Esau is as cranky as hell, and a peculiar old duck, but I think he'll like a fine upstanding young man as big as you be. 1934 December, Robert E. Howard, “The Road to Bear Creek”, in Action Stories:
  4. Synonym of crank (“of a ship: liable to capsize because of poorly stowed cargo or insufficient ballast”).
    • a cranky vessel
  5. (archaic) Full of spirit; spirited.
  6. (obsolete) Weak, unwell.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
crankiest Degree=Sup lexicographic
crankier Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Deriveds

crankiness · crankily

Synonyms

crank · shaky

Translations (54)

sv tokig (eccentric, peculiar) · mk на́мрштен (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · de gereizt (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · sh hiròvit (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · es de mal humor (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · de verschroben (eccentric, peculiar) · fi ärtyisä (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · fr grincheux (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · cy piwis (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · de exzentrisch (eccentric, peculiar) · es mañoso (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · ja 気難しい (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · bg опак (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · ru раздражительный (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · pt disfuncional ((of a machine, etc.) Not in good working condition) · da gnaven (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · uz tajang (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · fi originelli (eccentric, peculiar) · bg капризен (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · cy pifis (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · mk нео́бичен (eccentric, peculiar) · pt excêntrico (eccentric, peculiar) · de schrullig (eccentric, peculiar) · sv knäpp (eccentric, peculiar) · fi äreä (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · de spleenig (eccentric, peculiar) · nl opvliegend (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · de eigenartig (eccentric, peculiar) · bg странен (eccentric, peculiar) · bg разнебитен ((of a machine, etc.) Not in good working condition) · mk чу́ден (eccentric, peculiar) · mk ра́здразлив (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · fi vinksahtanut (eccentric, peculiar) · de launisch (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · pt irritável (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · cy croes (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · izh tulekas (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · mk ексце́нтричен (eccentric, peculiar) · es gruñón (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · es malhumorado (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · es moshudo (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · fi erikoinen (eccentric, peculiar) · fi outo (eccentric, peculiar) · ga cantalach (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · mk на́муртен (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · pt ranzinza (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · bg ексцентричен (eccentric, peculiar) · ru чудаковатый (eccentric, peculiar) · fr chafouin (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · sh ćùdljiv (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · sv excentrisk (eccentric, peculiar) · nl driftig (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · es de mal genio (grouchy, irritable; easily upset) · ru эксцентричный (eccentric, peculiar)