cross-grained

Definition of cross-grainednext

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cross-grained
Adjective
  • Madge Gates Wallace was 98 years old, nearly deaf and famously cantankerous.
    Susan Page, USA Today, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Silverman joins Sullivan's Crossing as Quincy Carlson, a cantankerous camper.
    Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Another bill would put regulations around data centers, although lawmakers in the final days stripped out some of the language that tech companies found disagreeable.
    Garrett Shanley, Miami Herald, 13 Mar. 2026
  • The day was cold and disagreeable, disappointing those who hoped for warm, sunny weather for the contest between Bogardus and Carver.
    AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
  • The American right, too, is in a shifting, querulous state.
    Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2026
  • In fact, the B-2 bombers were still in the air with hours to go before reaching home when Van Hollen issued his querulous statement.
    Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Sun shrinking and getting hotter; everything bilious, oxygenless, not great for living.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
  • Minaj’s bilious flurry is possibly related to claims that she is owed between $100 to 200 million related to her stake in Tidal, the music streaming service launched and spearheaded by Jay-Z in 2015 and was sold to Jack Dorsey’s company Square for $297 million in 2021.
    Andrew Flanagan, Variety, 15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Better is Danny Elfman’s spartan and fraught score, particularly the dyspeptic drums.
    Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
  • But Kael sensed in her less dyspeptic moments that there was something special about Redford.
    Stephen Galloway, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The rabbi is ornery, arrogant, sometimes cruel.
    Daniel Felsenthal, Vulture, 26 Mar. 2026
  • For ornery toddlers, who want to do everything themselves, Rao suggests giving them their own toothbrush to use while parents brush their teeth with a second one right alongside them.
    Sarah Lindenfeld Hall, Popular Science, 11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • The police chief must team with a marine biologist and a surly shark hunter to stop the beast's reign of terror.
    K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 17 Apr. 2026
  • And who could blame these romantic dreamers for wanting to cast aside the surly bonds of Earth to visit the pale beauty of our cratered satellite?
    Jeff Spry, Space.com, 30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Their first conversation is comically lopsided, and McKellen, purring his way through what is effectively a monologue, lays the groundwork for his most vividly inhabited and hilariously irascible performance in years.
    Justin Chang, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2026
  • Antonia has also wound up with her family, including her grandmother, an irascible old woman who is both Antonia’s role model and perhaps chief antagonist.
    John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 21 Mar. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Cross-grained.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cross-grained. Accessed 1 May. 2026.

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