crabby

adjective

crab·​by ˈkra-bē 

crabbier; crabbiest

informal

: easily irritated : peevish and irritable : grouchy

a crabby recluse

He gets crabby if he doesn't have his morning coffee.

She was in a crabby mood and got a certain amount of satisfaction out of pushing her sister's buttons.

—Isis Crawford

crabbiness noun

… the waiters have shed Stalinist crabbiness in favor of Parisian-style contempt for the customer.

—Kati Marton

Synonyms

• choleric
• cranky
• cross
• crotchety
• fiery
• grouchy
• grumpy
• irascible
• irritable
• peevish
• perverse
• pettish
• petulant
• prickly
• quick-tempered
• raspy
• ratty
• short-tempered
• snappish
• snappy
• snarky
• snippety
• snippy
• stuffy
• testy
• waspish

Examples of crabby in a Sentence

She gets crabby if she doesn't get enough sleep.

a crabby old dog who snapped at passersby

Recent Examples on the Web

There were fish living in the ice and thousands of mating pairs of these giant crustaceans dropping out of crevices on top of us, like giant crabby spiders. —Jill Heinerth, People.com, 23 Oct. 2024

Come the crash of 2008, David’s leisure-world empire collapses, and Abraham’s patriarchal mien and tolerance turn to crabby solitude with the prospect of unloading their dream for pennies on the dollar. —Gordon Cox, Variety, 2 Aug. 2024

Hailee Steinfeld plays the crabby, impatient, and judgmental high schooler Nadine. —Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 30 July 2024

One crabby older professor in particular, Devoto (Silvio Orlando), mostly ignores her looks but is taken with her ideas. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 22 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

crab entry 4

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

crabby

adjective

crab·​by ˈkrab-ē 

crabbier; crabbiest

informal

: easily irritated