crabbed
adjective
[ ˈkrabɪd ]
• (of handwriting) very small and difficult to decipher.
• "his handwriting is crabbed and hideous"
• bad-tempered.
• "a crabbed, unhappy middle age"
Similar:
irritable,
fractious,
fretful,
cross,
petulant,
pettish,
crabby,
crotchety,
cantankerous,
curmudgeonly,
disagreeable,
miserable,
morose,
peppery,
on edge,
edgy,
impatient,
complaining,
querulous,
bitter,
moody,
in a bad mood,
grumpy,
huffy,
scratchy,
out of sorts,
out of temper,
ill-tempered,
bad-tempered,
ill-natured,
ill-humoured,
peevish,
sullen,
surly,
sulky,
sour,
churlish,
touchy,
testy,
tetchy,
snappish,
waspish,
prickly,
crusty,
bilious,
liverish,
dyspeptic,
splenetic,
choleric,
snappy,
chippy,
grouchy,
cranky,
narky,
ratty,
eggy,
whingy,
whingeing,
like a bear with a sore head,
sorehead,
soreheaded,
peckish,
snaky,
miffy,
Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘perverse, wayward’): from crab1, because of the crab's sideways gait and habit of snapping.
crab
verb
• move sideways or obliquely.
• "he began crabbing sideways across the roof"
• fish for crabs.
• "watermen were crabbing on the bay"
Origin:
Old English crabba, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch krabbe, and more distantly to Dutch kreeft and German Krebs ; also to crab3.
crab
verb
• grumble about something petty.
• "on picnics, I would crab about sand in my food"
• act so as to spoil (something).
• "you're trying to crab my act"
Origin:
late 16th century (referring to hawks, meaning ‘claw or fight each other’): from Low German krabben ; related to crab1.
