First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
crabbed
adjective crab·bed \ˈkra-bəd\
: difficult to read or understand
: very negative : full of unhappy ideas
Full Definition of CRABBED
1
: marked by a forbidding moroseness <a crabbed view of human nature>
2
: difficult to read or understand <crabbed handwriting>
— crab·bed·ness noun
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Origin of CRABBED
Middle English, partly from crabbe crustacean, partly from crabbe crab apple
Synonym Discussion of CRABBED
sullen, glum, morose, surly, sulky, crabbed, saturnine, gloomy mean showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood. sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable <remained sullen amid the festivities>. glum suggests a silent dispiritedness <a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat>. morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy <morose job seekers who are inured to rejection>. surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner <a typical surly teenager>. sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness <grew sulky after every spat>. crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner <the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster>. saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition <a saturnine cynic always finding fault>. gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness <a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news>.
CRABBEDNESS Defined for Kids
crabbed
adjective crab·bed \ˈkra-bəd\
Definition of CRABBED for Kids
: crabby
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