"Cantankerous" Definition

Definitions for the word "Cantankerous" from multiple English dictionaries.

1. adj.
Bad-tempered, quarrelsome. cantankerously adv. Cantankerousness n. [origin uncertain]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
2. slang
litigious, bad-tempered. An American corruption probably of contentious. A reviewer of an early edition of this book derives it from the _Anglo-Norman_ CONTEK, litigation or strife. Others have suggested “cankerous” as the origin. _Bailey_ has CONTEKE, contention as a Spenserian word, and there is the _O.E._ CONTEKORS, quarrelsome persons.
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864

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