Dictionary

stroppy en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈstɹɒpi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From obstropulous, obsolete slang form of obstreperous, + -y.

Meanings

1. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, slang) Ornery, fractious, belligerent, or obstreperous, and hence difficult to deal with.
   • Her shape and posture shadowed her daughter′s, though Kerry carried herself with more attitude, a stroppier jutting of the hips than her mother. 2004, Simon Brett, The Hanging in the Hotel, Pan Macmillan UK:
   • In this case, the application of the famous method was a little shaky. To be fair, the director was dealing with a pretty stroppy cast. 1989, Kenneth Branagh, Beginning, London: Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, page 64:
   • The people who actually produced the paper, mainly the printers, were a stroppier lot, with a more aggressive union. 2010, Alexandra Bell, Rising to the Deadline, Trafford Publishing, Canada, page 140:
   • Davina told me earlier that Luke was the stroppiest patient she'd ever had and that he'd given her a lecture on how inefficient and time-wasting her medical was. 2010, Sophie Kinsella [pseudonym; Madeleine Wickham], Mini Shopaholic, page 341:
   • Even today, women who show signs of anger and who express themselves in some assertive way may be labelled stroppy for doing so. 2010, Gillian Bloxham, W. Doyle Gentry, Anger Management For Dummies, UK edition:

Forms

Deriveds

stroppiness · stroppily

Relateds

strop

Translations (8)

pl wrzaskliwy (obstreperous) · pl hałaśliwy (obstreperous) · pl marudny (obstreperous) · es farruco (obstreperous) · pl niesforny (obstreperous) · pl zaczepny (obstreperous) · pl kłótliwy (obstreperous) · fr borné (obstreperous)