cantankerous
/kænˈtæŋkəɹəs/adjective
cantankerous is spelled C-A-N-T-A-N-K-E-R-O-U-S: 12 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 63,645th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, cantankerous means “Given to or marked by an ill-tempered, quarrelsome nature; ill-tempered, cranky, crabby” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in cantankerous?
| Letters | 12: C-A-N-T-A-N-K-E-R-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 63,645th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cantankerous?
Cantankerous appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 63,645th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cantankerous?
- /kænˈtæŋkəɹəs/
- /kənˈtæŋkəɹəs/
Cantankerous has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cantankerous.ogg, En-au-cantankerous.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cantankerous
- more cantankerous comparative
- most cantankerous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cantankerous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Given to or marked by an ill-tempered, quarrelsome nature; ill-tempered, cranky, crabby.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cantankerous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | irritable |
| German | launisch, zänkisch, mürrisch, übellaunig |
| Portuguese | irritadiço, mal-humorado, ranzinza |
| Spanish | intratable, mañoso, enojadizo, arisco, cascarrabias |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cantankerous come from?
Perhaps derived from earlier contenkerous, from contentious + rancorous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).