curmudgeon
pronunciation
How to pronounce curmudgeon in British English:
UK [kɜ:ˈmʌdʒən]
How to pronounce curmudgeon in American English:
US [kɜrˈmʌdʒən]
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- Noun:
- a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas
Word Origin
- curmudgeon (n.)
- 1570s, of unknown origin; the suggestion, based on a misreading of a garbled note from Johnson, that it is from French coeur mechant "evil heart" is not taken seriously; the first syllable may be cur "dog." Liberman says the word "must have been borrowed from Gaelic (and references muigean "disagreeable person"), with variant spelling of intensive prefix ker-. Related: Curmudgeonly.
Example
- 1. Grace and manners that charmed the old curmudgeon .
- 2. Grace and manners that charmed the old curmudgeon ;
- 3. He was a brooding curmudgeon who thundered against industry , progress and the young science that sought to explain them .
- 4. The old curmudgeon found a new scapegoat and that let me out .
- 5. Paul : how about to my editor , the old curmudgeon ? Excuse me . He took me off the anaconda story . I 'm a reporter at the bee .