Meanings
plural curmudgeons
- An ill-tempered person full of stubborn ideas or opinions, often an older man.
Near-synonyms: crank, grump; grumpy pants (often childish), sourpuss, grouch
5 more examples
There's a cranky curmudgeon working at the hospital who gives all the patients and other doctors flak.
John Doe's old age and stubborn aversion to new ideas make him a curmudgeon of a candidate.
After a while, as cultural debates became more polarized, the editorial tone of the New Criterion went from being charmingly curmudgeon to being bitterly shrill.
1996, Jeet Heer, Gravitas, Autumn 1996How to Be a Curmudgeon on the Internet
2006, The New York TimesHow should I respond, without appearing to be a curmudgeon?
2007, The TimesSynonyms: crank, grump, grumpy pants[w:child-directed speech|childish]]>, sourpuss, grouch
- archaicA miser.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn ill-tempered person full of stubborn ideas or opinions, often an older man.
Origin
Numerous folk etymologies exist for this word. An alternative spelling attested in 1600 is cornmudgin, in Holland's translation of Livy, rendering Latin frūmentārius (“corn-merchant”). This has been suggested as the original form of the word, but OED notes that curmudgeon is attested some years before this, concluding that cornmudgin was merely a nonce-word by Holland. The word is attested from the late 1500s in the forms curmudgeon and curmudgen, and during the 17th century in numerous spelling variants, including cormogeon, cormogion, cormoggian, cormudgeon, curmudgion, curmuggion, curmudgin, curr-mudgin, curre-megient.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian темерут
- темерут (temerut)an ill-tempered stubborn person
Czech bručoun, mrzout
- bručounan ill-tempered stubborn person
- mrzoutan ill-tempered stubborn person
Dutch iezegrim, kankeraar
- iezegriman ill-tempered stubborn person
- kankeraaran ill-tempered stubborn person
Esperanto grumblemulo, grumblulo
- grumblemuloan ill-tempered stubborn person
- grumbluloan ill-tempered stubborn person
Finnish äkämys, kääkkä
- äkämysan ill-tempered stubborn person
- kääkkäan ill-tempered stubborn person
French bourru, baderne
- bourruan ill-tempered stubborn person
- badernean ill-tempered stubborn person
- ganachean ill-tempered stubborn person
- rombièrean ill-tempered stubborn person
German Griesgram, Miesepeter
- Griesgraman ill-tempered stubborn person
- Miesepeteran ill-tempered stubborn person
- Spielverderberan ill-tempered stubborn person
Italian burbero, musone
- burberoan ill-tempered stubborn person
- musonean ill-tempered stubborn person
Japanese 意地の悪い人
- 意地の悪い人 (ijinowarui hito)an ill-tempered stubborn person
Korean 꼰대
- 꼰대 (kkondae)an ill-tempered stubborn person
Māori porokaihākere
- porokaihākerean ill-tempered stubborn person
Polish gbur, mruk
- gburan ill-tempered stubborn person
- mrukan ill-tempered stubborn person
- zrzędaan ill-tempered stubborn person
Portuguese rabugento, casmurro
- rabugentoan ill-tempered stubborn person
- casmurroan ill-tempered stubborn person
- caturraan ill-tempered stubborn person
Russian грубия́н, грубия́нка
- грубия́н (grubiján)an ill-tempered stubborn person
- грубия́нка (grubijánka)an ill-tempered stubborn person
- старый ворчун (staryj)an ill-tempered stubborn person
Spanish testarudo, cascarrabias
- testarudoan ill-tempered stubborn person
- cascarrabiasan ill-tempered stubborn person
Welsh cingroen, cerlyn
- cingroenan ill-tempered stubborn person
- cerlynan ill-tempered stubborn person
- gŵr crintachan ill-tempered stubborn person
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with curmudgeon
All rhymes →Cite this entry
curmudgeon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curmudgeon
“curmudgeon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curmudgeon. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “curmudgeon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curmudgeon.
Source: curmudgeon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.