Crankiness


[krang-kee] /ˈkræŋ ki/

adjective, crankier, crankiest.
1.
ill-tempered; grouchy; cross:
I’m always cranky when I don’t get enough sleep.
2.
eccentric; queer.
3.
shaky; unsteady; out of order.
4.
full of bends or windings; crooked.
5.
British Dialect. sickly; in unsound or feeble condition; infirm.
/ˈkræŋkɪ/
adjective crankier, crankiest
1.
(informal) eccentric
2.
(mainly US & Canadian, Irish, informal) fussy and bad-tempered
3.
shaky; out of order
4.
full of bends and turns
5.
(dialect) unwell
/ˈkræŋkɪ/
adjective crankier, crankiest
1.
(nautical) another word for crank2
adj.

“cross-tempered, irritable,” 1807, from crank (n.) + -y (2). The evolution would be from earlier senses of crank, e.g. “a twist or fanciful turn of speech” (1590s); “inaccessible hole or crevice” (1560s). Grose’s 1787 “Provincial Glossary” has “Cranky. Ailing sickly from the dutch crank, sick.” and identifies it as a Northern word. Related: Crankily; crankiness.

Ben. Dang it, don’t you spare him–A cross grain’d cranky toad as ever crawl’d. (etc.) [Richard Cumberland, “Lovers Resolutions,” Act I, 1813]

adjective

Very irritable; touchy: The baby was cranky all day (1821+)

Read Also:

  • Cranker

    [krangk] /kræŋk/ noun 1. Machinery. any of several types of arms or levers for imparting rotary or oscillatory motion to a rotating shaft, one end of the crank being fixed to the shaft and the other end receiving reciprocating motion from a hand, connecting rod, etc. 2. Informal. an ill-tempered, grouchy person. 3. an unbalanced […]

  • Cranking

    [krangk] /kræŋk/ noun 1. Machinery. any of several types of arms or levers for imparting rotary or oscillatory motion to a rotating shaft, one end of the crank being fixed to the shaft and the other end receiving reciprocating motion from a hand, connecting rod, etc. 2. Informal. an ill-tempered, grouchy person. 3. an unbalanced […]

  • Crankle

    [krang-kuh l] /ˈkræŋ kəl/ noun, verb (used with or without object), crankled, crankling. 1. bend; turn; crinkle.

  • Crank-letter

    noun 1. a hostile or fanatical letter, often sent anonymously. Also, crank call. An irrational, fanatical, or hostile letter or telephone call. For example, The office was flooded with mail, including a lot of crank letters, or Harriet was upset enough by the crank calls to notify the police. This expression employs crank in the […]

  • Crankly

    [krangk] /kræŋk/ adjective, British Dialect. 1. lively; high-spirited. /kræŋk/ noun 1. a device for communicating motion or for converting reciprocating motion into rotary motion or vice versa. It consists of an arm projecting from a shaft, often with a second member attached to it parallel to the shaft 2. Also called crank handle, starting handle. […]


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