crotchety
/ˈkɹɑ.t͡ʃɪ.ti/adjective
crotchety is spelled C-R-O-T-C-H-E-T-Y: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 89,388th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, crotchety means “Cranky, disagreeable, or stubborn, especially if prone to odd whims or fancies” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in crotchety?
| Letters | 9: C-R-O-T-C-H-E-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 89,388th 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 crotchety?
Crotchety appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 89,388th 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 crotchety?
- UK /ˈkɹɒtʃ.ə.tɪ/
- US /ˈkɹɑ.t͡ʃɪ.ti/
Crotchety has 3 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-crotchety.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of crotchety
- crotchetier comparative
- more crotchety comparative
- crotchetiest superlative
- most crotchety superlative
- crochety
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does crotchety mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Cranky, disagreeable, or stubborn, especially if prone to odd whims or fancies.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Crotchety in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense cranky, disagreeable or stubborn:
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 crotchety come from?
From crotchet + -y, using crotchet in the 16th-century sense of a whim or fancy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).