cantankerous

Etymology

Perhaps derived from earlier contenkerous, from contentious + rancorous.

adj

1. Given to or marked by an ill-tempered, quarrelsome nature; ill-tempered, cranky, crabby.
   "She is a cantankerous old maid," added another, whom I recognised, by his voice, as a man whose attentions I had put a determined check to not six weeks before: "she is a cantankerous old maid, fretting and snarling over the loss of her beauty." 1839, “The youth of Julia Howard”, in Fraser's magazine for town and country, volume 20, page 618
   By contrast, cantankerous and churlish people are contemptuously independent of others’ opinions, not caring enough about others and their views. 1998, Pauline Chazan, The moral self, page 80
   Nina was thrilled, muttering her cantankerous joy that I was getting out of the house. 2007, Linda Francis Lee, The Devil in the Junior League, page 44
   Unfortunately, as Great-Aunt Bert could be a bit cantankerous, they were having to be creative. 2010, Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest, page 169