crabbed
crabbed Lexical Profile
crabbed Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Of handwriting or text: cramped, irregular, and difficult to read or decipher.
"The historian spent hours squinting at the clerk's crabbed handwriting in the seventeenth-century ledger."
Bad-tempered, irritable, and morose in disposition.
"Despite his crabbed demeanor, the elderly shopkeeper was quietly generous to the neighborhood children."
Of literary style, argument, or thought: overly intricate, obscure, and difficult to follow.
"Students often struggle with the philosopher's crabbed prose and dense terminology."
• verb
To fish for or catch crabs (past tense and past participle of crab).
"During the summer holidays, the family crabbed along the shallow tidal creeks."
To complain peevishly or find fault (past tense and past participle of crab).
"The commuters crabbed about the unexpected delays on the morning train."
To move sideways or obliquely, especially of an aircraft steering into a crosswind (past tense and past participle of crab).
"The pilot crabbed the aircraft into the strong crosswind before straightening out just above the runway."
Word Nuance & Usage
As an adjective, 'crabbed' is traditionally pronounced with two syllables (/ˈkræb.ɪd/), especially when describing handwriting or temperament, whereas the past tense verb form is pronounced with one syllable (/kræbd/).
• Rhymes for crabbed
Word Origin & Etymology
Dating back to Middle English, 'crabbed' derives from 'crab', blending allusions to the crooked, sideways walk and irritable nature of the crustacean with the sour, astringent taste of the wild crab apple.