cranky

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

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹæŋki/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋki

cranky (comparative crankier, superlative crankiest)

1. (of a machine, etc.) Not in good working condition.

   Synonym: shaky

   • 1914, Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness: The River of Doubt:

     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.

   • 1987 December 6, Kris Kleindienst, “Sex On The Table”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 21, page 6:

     Margaret Cerullo gave a rousing speech, despite the pesky interruptions of a cranky sound system.

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.
   • 1934 December, Robert E. Howard, “The Road to Bear Creek”, in Action Stories:

     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.

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.