crabbed Synonyms
Another word for crabbed
• adjective (Context 1)
Of handwriting or text: cramped, irregular, and difficult to read or decipher.
"The historian spent hours squinting at the clerk's cramped handwriting in the seventeenth-century ledger."
• verb (Context 2)
To complain peevishly or find fault (past tense and past participle of crab).
"The commuters grumble about the unexpected delays on the morning train."
• verb (Context 3)
To move sideways or obliquely, especially of an aircraft steering into a crosswind (past tense and past participle of crab).
"The pilot sidle the aircraft into the strong crosswind before straightening out just above the runway."
• adjective (Context 4)
Bad-tempered, irritable, and morose in disposition.
"Despite his crabby demeanor, the elderly shopkeeper was quietly generous to the neighborhood children."
• adjective (Context 5)
Of literary style, argument, or thought: overly intricate, obscure, and difficult to follow.
"Students often struggle with the philosopher's convoluted prose and dense terminology."
Opposites of crabbed
The opposite of crabbed shifts depending on context. Common opposites include: