What does crankish mean?
Crankish is an adjective meaning bad-tempered, irritable, and difficult to deal with. It describes a person's character or manner, as in a crankish landlord, a crankish reply, or a crankish attitude. The word often carries a mildly disapproving or humorous edge: it can suggest someone who is not merely briefly annoyed but whose temperament or habits are characteristically difficult. Although cranky is more common in everyday modern English, crankish has a slightly literary, old-fashioned, or deliberately formal flavor. It is used in both British and American English. The word is formed from crank with the adjective-forming suffix -ish, linking it to a family of English words associated with crank and related forms. Crankish is especially useful when the writer wants to convey irritation with a distinctive, somewhat traditional flourish rather than simply state that someone is angry.
adjectiveInclined to be bad-tempered, irritable, and difficult to deal with; crotchety.
- Bad-tempered, irritable, or crotchety in character or manner.
"The crankish landlord refused to repair the heating despite the freezing weather."
"His crankish response ended the discussion before it had properly begun."
"She adopted a crankish tone when the waiter suggested that the menu was unavailable."
Crankish adds one tiny suffix to crank and immediately signals a sour, difficult temperament.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of crankish
Crankish was formed in English from crank and the suffix -ish. Its meaning developed in the older sense of a person with a difficult or eccentric temperament, and related forms such as cranky and crankshaft belong to the same broader crank word family. The suffix -ish contributes the adjective-forming sense of 'having the quality of,' while the word's tone has become especially associated with a literary or mildly archaic description of an irritable person.
How crankish is actually used
The word is mainly informal and often mildly dismissive, though it can be used in literary or historical descriptions. It is more conspicuous and somewhat old-fashioned than the more neutral word cranky.
Easily confused with crankish
Crankish means bad-tempered or difficult to please, whereas a crank is usually an eccentric person or a device that converts rotary motion into another form of motion.