as in petulant
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Recent Examples of stroppy
Shi’s bottle list encompasses an idiosyncratic mix of classics and oddballs, including stroppy Austrian natural whites alongside multi-thousand-dollar Burgundies, funky low-intervention oranges from Greece, a few bottles from the Japanese winery Coco Farm.
—
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
She’s matched wonderfully by Cooke, who leans into her actual Manchester accent to give Cherry a stroppy, sarcastic bent and whose body looks absolutely banging wrapped in an array of oxblood, maroon, and cerise minidresses.
—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
The team’s cohesion and ability to handle adversity are worlds apart from the stroppy exits that defined Mauricio Pochettino’s time managing a team of Galacticos.
—
Zak Garner-Purkis,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
Madison makes for a peculiar heroine; her performance as a realistically stroppy adolescent, in possession of a weariness and cynicism far beyond her years, recalls Karen Kilgariff playing a child in an improv scene.
—
Declan Gallagher,
EW.com,
7 Oct. 2022
But even if Brexit reflects Britain’s carefree pensioners—and some evidence suggests that despite being older, Brexit voters were stroppier than average—there is little sign of such an age effect elsewhere.
—
The Economist,
11 July 2019
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
She’s matched wonderfully by Cooke, who leans into her actual Manchester accent to give Cherry a stroppy, sarcastic bent and whose body looks absolutely banging wrapped in an array of oxblood, maroon, and cerise minidresses.
—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
The team’s cohesion and ability to handle adversity are worlds apart from the stroppy exits that defined Mauricio Pochettino’s time managing a team of Galacticos.
—
Zak Garner-Purkis,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
Madison makes for a peculiar heroine; her performance as a realistically stroppy adolescent, in possession of a weariness and cynicism far beyond her years, recalls Karen Kilgariff playing a child in an improv scene.
—
Declan Gallagher,
EW.com,
7 Oct. 2022
But even if Brexit reflects Britain’s carefree pensioners—and some evidence suggests that despite being older, Brexit voters were stroppier than average—there is little sign of such an age effect elsewhere.
—
The Economist,
11 July 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stroppy
Adjective
-
Scottie Scheffler has become increasingly known for petulant rants.
-
Charles seemed highly strung and petulant, getting himself in a lather about the loss of a cufflink just before the pre-wedding ball at Buckingham Palace.
Adjective
-
The symptoms are so delayed that people often blame them on food poisoning, irritable-bowel syndrome, gluten intolerance.
-
Cancer could be affectionate and chatty one moment, and withdrawn and irritable the next, with little to no explanation.
Adjective
-
Producer Barack Obama, who will also appear on the show, previously teased his collaboration with the famously grumpy and opinionated David.
-
Ricky Gervais is his trademark grumpy self, just in cat form, at the beginning of the trailer for Netflix’s Alley Cats, the comic’s return to adult animation.
Adjective
-
For the first time, that includes In Living Color vet Kim Wayans, going large as irascible hospital staffer Nurse Ratchett.
-
No true irascible aging genius worth his salt is without a ready supply of white socks brightening up the chest of drawers.
Adjective
-
Everything about it was meant to be a corrective against that straight white, grouchy private detective.
-
That Utah rideshare driver, however, was justifiable more grouchy.
Adjective
-
But even a young woman struggling with the patriarchal conundrum of cool-girl syndrome (to be independent and accepted) might reveal more of a snappish turn of mind than Grace does.
Adjective
-
The great speculators became talkative and communicative or dull, sullen, silent, and peevish.
-
Judith Lightfoot Clarke and Greg Wood carry themselves with peevish authority as the Butley, oozing entitlement.
Adjective
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Here and across most of the album, Antonoff comes off like a crotchety war vet boxing at shadows.
-
Arteta can strike a crotchety figure in post-match interviews, particularly when his team have dropped points.
Cite this Entry
“Stroppy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stroppy. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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