Definition of grouchy in US English:

adjectivegrouchiest, grouchier

• Irritable and bad-tempered; grumpy; complaining.

  ‘the old man grew sulky and grouchy’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Thus confined to bed and therefore incredibly grumpy and grouchy, she made life difficult for anyone visiting her.’
  • ‘Maria in the morning was an entirely different entity from Maria the rest of the day, and twice as grouchy and irritable.’
  • ‘I don't want to disturb him too much and being grouchy doesn't make me feel very cuddly anyhow, so I head out quickly and hope that the walk to work will clear my head a bit.’
  • ‘I thought you were grouchy and cranky, but I had no idea what two teeth could do to a human being, and the world will never be the same.’
  • ‘I know I sound really grouchy and maybe I am but when I heard everybody complaining I got annoyed.’
  • ‘I was so tired and grouchy I just couldn't be bothered.’
  • ‘Because Papa grew so grouchy and irascible as his health failed, I wondered at times how many people really liked him.’
  • ‘I am appalling in the morning, really foul-tempered and grouchy.’
  • ‘If you are grouchy, irritable, or just plain mean, there will be a £100 charge for putting up with you.’
  • ‘If I sometimes seem grouchy or disoriented, remember that like Walt Whitman I contain multitudes.’
  • ‘They had come in last Monday, and he was slightly grouchy.’
  • ‘He was grouchy at me for being late, but then warmed up.’
  • ‘If your answer is no and you wake up feeling grumpy and grouchy instead, then you may want to reconsider napping.’
  • ‘Well, I appear to have recovered from my grouchy spell this week.’
  • ‘She was cranky and grouchy most of the time and her feet hurt but she had work to do.’
  • ‘Their discovery made them grouchy; they tried to clear us away.’
  • ‘She managed to look grumpy and grouchy for a whole 10 seconds, then her smile appeared again and she stared up at the ceiling.’
  • ‘But instead, there were snubs and grouchy charges of poisoning relationships.’
  • ‘So we bought our minivan, and we've both been grouchy about it.’
  • ‘I wrote the above a few days ago, and now I'm not grouchy at all.’

  Synonyms

  grumpy, cross, irritable, bad-tempered, crotchety, crabby, crabbed, cantankerous, curmudgeonly, moody, miserable, morose, sullen, surly, churlish

  View synonyms