How to Use cranky in a Sentence

cranky

adjective
  • The left has already been cranky for two and a half years.
    Nbc Universal, NBC News, 4 June 2023
  • The girl is cranky, confused and sad that her friends have gone home.
    Jennifer Brookland, Freep.com, 27 Oct. 2022
  • But on Sunday, Brady and Rodgers looked old, creaky and cranky.
    Mark Maske, Anchorage Daily News, 17 Oct. 2022
  • Young children may get cranky in the afternoon and need a nap.
    Julie Weed, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Not getting enough sleep can leave you miserable and cranky for the next day.
    Chris Hachey, BGR, 21 June 2021
  • Ports are crowded, consumers are cranky, and the glaciers are still melting.
    Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 18 July 2022
  • They are linked through Finn, a cranky schoolteacher, who is Max’s younger brother and Lily’s ex-boyfriend.
    Maggie Doherty, The New Republic, 16 June 2023
  • Not that the saucy ball keychain will suffer in sales due to my cranky assessment of it.
    Rachel Vorona Cote, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
  • The majority of the world is having fun with it, outside all the cranky NFL fans that just don't want to see the Chiefs win.
    Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 1 Feb. 2024
  • The cranky yankees who ran Concord weren’t likely to be spooked by outsiders’ threats.
    Philip Elliott, Time, 5 Dec. 2022
  • Our son was up in the night, seemed to have an upset stomach, and was generally cranky.
    Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 4 Apr. 2023
  • The rub is that the joint was held together by duct tape and drug money, run by cranky employees who are set in their ways.
    Cesar Hernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 July 2022
  • Boldin was the cranky perfectionist and the two craziest players on the team might have been both safeties, Pollard and Reed.
    Mike Preston, baltimoresun.com, 1 Mar. 2022
  • But the only thing more obnoxious than a cranky TSA agent or seatmate with bare feet is flying with a bad back.
    Erica Sweeney, SELF, 26 Feb. 2024
  • Sleepiness is one of the top reasons people get cranky with others, studies show.
    Julia Ries, SELF, 20 Dec. 2023
  • But with his electric leading the way, the music is cranky and clankety, and drummer Ralph Molina can still hit his kit hard.
    David Browne, Rolling Stone, 8 Dec. 2021
  • Just to make the unlikely stuff even more so, Johnson is not completely healthy and has not been for a while because of a cranky right knee.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Dec. 2021
  • Green is famous for whipping himself into shape just before the playoffs, but cranky spines have a way of sapping the fiercest of wills.
    Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 29 Mar. 2022
  • The whole company now gets the joy of confronting hungry and cranky people in their pajamas!
    Aj Willingham, CNN, 29 Dec. 2021
  • Bernie Sanders is the gadfly uncle, cranky but authentic.
    Time, 27 Oct. 2022
  • Fury of the Gods was merely cranky at the box office this weekend, with a $30 million domestic opening.
    Vulture, 19 Mar. 2023
  • Occasionally cranky, the terrier was said to perk up with warm baths and good food.
    Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 5 Oct. 2022
  • Overly long meetings lead to tired and cranky attendees.
    Kelly G. Richardson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Apr. 2023
  • During the episode, Springsteen meets with David to talk about the cranky comedian’s activism in Atlanta.
    Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 1 Apr. 2024
  • Darius Garland recently missed three games with a cranky back.
    Terry Pluto, cleveland, 13 Feb. 2022
  • Despite the negative stereotypes, these guys seemed more like harmless, cranky uncles to me.
    Curtis Chin, Bon Appétit, 22 June 2022
  • Chris Sullivan is a surprise standout as Joe, a cranky addict who keeps relapsing—a schmuck with a streak of pathos.
    Nick Paumgarte, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2021
  • Dining early is better than later, for instance, and in cases where kids are cranky or hangry, adults should ask to have their food come out first.
    Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024
  • How about having to disarm that cranky Greek sponge diver who definitely didn’t want you on his boat?
    Margy Rochlin, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2023
  • When someone in a group starts getting cranky or weird, other members of that group will have motivation to speak up.
    Jaron Lanier, The Atlantic, 26 May 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cranky.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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