cranky

comparative crankier · superlative crankiest

1. usuallyNot in good working condition; defective, faulty.

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

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

   1 more example

   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.

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

   Synonyms: shaky

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.

   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.

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

4. Synonym of crank (“of a ship: liable to capsize because of poorly stowed cargo or insufficient ballast”).

   a cranky vessel

   Synonyms: crank

5. archaicFull of spirit; spirited.
6. obsoleteWeak, unwell.