Meaning of cantankerosity | Babel Free

Definitions

1. The quality of being cantankerous.
   uncountable
2. Someone or something that is cantankerous.
   countable, rare

Examples

“Sir, the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Keitt] made a speech, and if I may be allowed to coin a word, I will say it had more cantankerosity in it than any speech I ever heard on this floor.”

““This is a case for phlebotomy.” / “I’ll phlebotomize you!” retorted Vie, irascibly. / “Worse and worse Strong indications of internal cantankerosity, requiring an immediate application of Croton oil and ipecacuanha, infused in an oyster stew, to be superseded by a nicotine fumigation.”

“The French philosophers call this transcendental, but a simpler and more befitting name is that of cantankerosity. […] A curious case of peculiar cantankerosity is related by Nordenskold in the account of one of his wonderful voyages. […] To have the means of prosperous wholesome life in hand, and to prefer the favourite diet that would certainly kill, is surely an instance of moral cantankerosity as much as the man who, according to Mr. Samuel Weller’s legend, ate the three shillingsworth of muffins and blew his brains out. […] I humbly think that this is a case of mental cantankerosity.”

“It is a sad and astounding fact to relate, but even in literary life we meet with instances of cantankerosity.”

“But we cannot disguise from ourselves that the actual course of events at the time was greatly influenced by Mr. Tayler’s “cantankerosity.””

“The bald-headed snoozer who has been working the physic racket in this metropolis for some six weeks under the nom de syringe of Dr. Hanson has a bad case of cantankerosity of the disposition, and the disease does not appear to yield to any of his ordinary methods of malpractice.”

“My Lords and Gentlemen—I am over-joyed to find such an important assembly—It had been my intention to have delighted your ears with an elaborate dissertation upon things in general, and to have entered into an analytical enquiry into the cause of the General Cussedness and Cantankerosity of things from pre-historic times until the present year of Grace, or rather Disgrace.”

“Of the whimsical manifestations of our national spirit countless anecdotes make mention in the boastfulness and general cantankerosity of the American tourist.”

““Bill knows it, sir,” continued Cutten; “he’s borne as much as I have, and barring a little cantankerosity, he’s a manly friend.””

“And the most unpromising specimen of conservative cantankerosity may be the best subject for your socialist chisel.”

“Me, cantankerous? Man, if you want to see a picture of cantankerosity, go you up to the gunroom there, and take a look at that cross-grained old devil.”

“Certainly Johnny is lucky; how many guys have a medic who will stay with him 24 hrs daily, wait on him hand and foot, put up with his cantankerosity and, if he’s halfway civil, maybe give him a hug before bedtime?”

“His cantankerosity is delightfully illustrated by the instinctive rhymes in “Humbug,” his first song: “St. Nicholas? Ridiculous! Humanity? Insanity!””

“>I think we're generally willing to put up with more cantankerousness >from people who are saying stuff that we generally agree with than >from people who are saying things we don't agree with. Probably true, although I find that another factor that makes me feel better about somebody else's cantankerosity is when that person is showing some sign of cognitive activity, whether I agree with that person or not. One of the primary reasons that Bil is being pilloried is that he's being just plain dumb.”

“But you gripers certainly had your heads in gear last week. Here are some samples of your creative cantankerosity: […]”

“Jerry Ordway adds cantankerosity to the wizard making him a valuable piece of comedy relief, not that SHAZAM! is a heavy book.”

“Of all the signs of male aging — pattern baldness, a zip-a-dee-do-dah that’s pretty much zapped and deedled-out, general cantankerosity — this one stung the most: Soon I’ll be older than Hi.”

“Not only are electrons alive, but they are female. You can tell because of their cantankerosity, which is higher than that of any other elementary particle. The only other being with an equavalent^([sic]) value of cantankerosity is the human female.”

“> >no such thing as a seagull. There are many different "gulls" but no > "sea"gull. > > The "California Gull" is the state bird of Utah. […] You know, you're right. I guess I forgot that, cuz around here, we just call them "those damn gulls." / cheers / Jen in SLC / with a reminder to all that excessive specificity leads to cantankerosity.”

“And I must say that the tongue-in-cheek cantankerousness (or should that be cantankerosity? help me out here mr wordysmith!) that you so cleverly work into your notes is an utter delight!”

“Is this cantankerosity what we should expect from His Serene Charitableness, Reservoir Of Compassion And Understanding, Hoary Homunculus, Writer Of Writings, […]”

“Rather, he hardscrabbles country wit into cantankerosity.”

“It had become quite an angry exchange when Barudh, one of the oldest characters, had given his cantankerosity a good airing and then accused me of looking threateningly at the eraser on my desk.”

“Jean inherited an ample measure of her mother’s Highland cantankerosity and after a spectacular set-to with my dad, departed the Green Bay camp taking with her the camp’s key piece of equipment, a yarding donkey, and Dad’s erstwhile business partner, Charlie.”

“His whole life is one prolonged cantankerosity.”

“One writer refers to certain purists as “antieverythingarians”; another speaks of the “cantankerosities” of ill-natured people; while still another characterises mankind, truly enough, as “mammonolaters.””

“As some ancient philosopher said of man, “It has its peculiarities, angularities, cantankerosities and idiosyncrasies,” and it also has its better qualities, such as spare-ribs, back[-]bones, sausages, souse, pigs feet and chitterlings.”

“An’ gin that wadna cure his appetite for all sich cantankerosities, I’d supplement the fire wi’ a gude birch rod: See Proverbs twinty-third an’ fourteenth: ‘Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt save his soul from hell.’ ””

“Behind him sat Critic A, one of the elderly cantankerosities already referred to, who should have given up the job years before (he is now dead, so no offence to present company).”

“So would she leave him for a younger man? “God forgive you, it’s a sin. I could just do without Alf being such a cantankerosity most of the time.[…]””

CEFR level