adjective
habitually ill-humored, irritable, and disagreeable
one of our more cantankerous fellow workers
Synonyms: bearish, cankered, cranky, cross-grained, crotchety, ornery, rantankerous, vinegarish, vinegary, waspish, waspy; compare irascible , irritable
Related Word: dour, morose, sour; crabbed, cross, crusty, huffy, petulant, prickly, snappish; dyspeptic, ill-conditioned, ill-natured; liverish
Idioms: like a bear with a sore paw
Contrasted words: benign, kindly, mellow, mild; amiable, congenial, friendly, pleasant, well-disposed; benevolent, gracious, kind