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Permanent link for this word: curmudgeon

Dec 13, 2012

This week's theme
Words to describe people

This week's words
princox
nincompoop
malingerer
curmudgeon
whippersnapper

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

curmudgeon

PRONUNCIATION:

(kuhr-MUJ-uhn)

MEANING:

noun: An ill-tempered, stubborn person, usually an old man.

ETYMOLOGY:

Origin unknown. Earliest documented use: 1587.

USAGE:

"Fred Eaglesmith can sound like a curmudgeon at times, delivering cynical proclamations on the state of music."
Cathalena Burch; Success Finds Man of the Road; Arizona Daily Star (Tucson); Feb 2, 2012.

See more usage examples of curmudgeon in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture and, if it were possible, speak a few reasonable words. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher (1749-1832)

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