What's the difference between cranky and crotchety?

Cranky


Definition:

  • (a.) Full of spirit; crank.
  • (a.) Addicted to crotchets and whims; unreasonable in opinions; crotchety.
  • (a.) Unsteady; easy to upset; crank.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) What better symbol of the crankiness of the current protests against economic orthodoxy could David Cameron and Nick Clegg wish for?
  • (2) ‘You sound like my old, cranky uncle.’ Yes, I am your old, cranky uncle.
  • (3) Fellow Tory minister Ken Clarke warned the Greeks of "serious consequences" if they voted for "cranky extremists ".
  • (4) (If he were Malcolm Turnbull, a certain News Corp columnist might write a cranky blog post.)
  • (5) Dr al-Zayyat has said she could not carry out a full examination because the baby was "miserable and cranky".
  • (6) The banks have been very cranky about the levy since it leaked yesterday morning.
  • (7) The justice secretary did not define what he meant by "cranky extremists".
  • (8) From Kozlova Zaseka station, a cranky old bus takes you up to Tolstoy's house.
  • (9) She read a lot of science and economics texts - "the most eccentric passage of my life" - and the resulting polemic, about the dumping of nuclear waste, attracted some cranky reviews in the science press, although she says her findings were hardly startling.
  • (10) She examined Baby P at a child development clinic at St Ann's hospital, in north London , and although she noticed bruises to his body she decided not to carry out a full examination because the child was ''cranky and miserable''.
  • (11) Tony Abbott spent yesterday looking pretty cranky, particularly when people criticised his proposal to bring back knights and dames .
  • (12) As recent touring shows of Picasso estate leftovers have demonstrated, the cranky Spaniard was prolific right up until the end of his life, producing works of varying quality.
  • (13) Reluctant to defend profits made by banks using cheap QE funds, Krugman accused his rival of being a "cranky old man" and using "context and model-free numbers embedded in a rant".
  • (14) Clarke warned: "If they get a hopeless lot of cranky extremists elected at the next election then they will default on their debt and everybody says they will leave the euro – actually that's quite likely but it doesn't necessarily follow, but they'll default on their debt."
  • (15) "If they get a hopeless lot of rather cranky extremists elected at the next election then they will default on their debt."
  • (16) Dr Sabah al-Zayyat notes bruises to his body and face but does not perform a full examination because he is "miserable and cranky".
  • (17) Greece will face a disastrous future in which it will default on its debts and may be forced to leave the euro if it votes for "cranky extremists" in next month's general election, Ken Clarke has warned.
  • (18) He thanked journalists – whom he described as a “cranky, cantankerous lot” – for rallying around and pressing for his release.
  • (19) There probably isn't enough certain scientific evidence yet (how long did it take for Richard Doll to gain a following for his cranky smoking-causes-lung-cancer theories?)
  • (20) She was “cranky” over the suggestion that the Coalition was reducing payments to patients.

Crotchety


Definition:

  • (a.) Given to crotchets; subject to whims; as, a crotchety man.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The saving grace of the first sketch, and the best part of the entire night, was Larry David reprising his role as candidate Bernie Sanders, which is both a spot-on impersonation and a hilarious parody of his crotchety, far-left persona .
  • (2) He prefaced his 2006 autobiography, Doggin' Around – the title, too, of his 1994 film about a crotchety jazz pianist played by Elliott Gould – with an open, explanatory love letter, almost, to Duke Ellington.
  • (3) As the sun rose on Tuesday, Jones was expressing the crotchety confusion that many white men of a certain cellared vintage express in Australia now that other people, less important people, can occasionally get a word in.
  • (4) There were a number of big name omissions, including Hanks for both his talked-up roles this year in Captain Phillips and Saving Mr Banks , as well as Robert Redford as a lone yachtsman in All Is Lost , Emma Thompson as crotchety author PL Travers in Saving Mr Banks, and Joaquin Phoenix in Spike Jonze's oddball love story Her .
  • (5) Elderly patients are sometimes stereotyped as "crocks" and "gomers"--crotchety chronic complainers beyond help and hope.
  • (6) It had to end, of course, and it is fair to say that by August we were beginning to get into that crotchety frame of mind which starts to affect Greek taverna-owners and travel reps at the end of the season.
  • (7) The demands of the relentless publicity treadmill can lead to compromises on all fronts: the subject can be crotchety, the interviewer nervous and hurried, and nobody gets what they want.
  • (8) There was another surprise in the acting section, with Emma Thompson scooping the best actress gong for Saving Mr Banks , playing crotchety Mary Poppins author PL Travers; so far she has not been on many awards-season radars.
  • (9) Molly Ball (@mollyesque) Jim Lehrer seems kinda crotchety, but we really need Eastwood moderating this debate.