cantankerous
If someone is cantankerous he has a difficult disposition. Take care not to throw your ball into the yard of the cantankerous old man down the street — he'll cuss you out and keep your ball.
The origin of cantankerous is unclear (it may be at least partly from Middle English contek 'dissension'), but ever since it first appeared in plays from the 1770s, it's been a popular way to describe someone who is quarrelsome and disagreeable. It is usually applied to people, but stubborn animals like mules are also described as cantankerous. Events can be cantankerous too, like a cantankerous debate. Some synonyms are cranky, bad-tempered, irritable, irascible.
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stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate
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synonyms:
bloody-minded
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obstinate, stubborn, unregenerate
tenaciously unwilling or marked by tenacious unwillingness to yield
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obstinate, stubborn, unregenerate
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having a difficult and contrary disposition“"a cantankerous and venomous-tongued old lady"- Dorothy Sayers”
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ill-natured
having an irritable and unpleasant disposition
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ill-natured
Vocabulary lists containing cantankerous
This list of challenge words features some of the hardest words that you will encounter in the Verbal Reasoning section of the GRE. These are words that typically appear less frequently across different academic disciplines, so you are less likely to have encountered them before. Master these difficult words and watch your GRE score soar!
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