grumpy

Etymology

It is formed from English grump + -y,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from grump in the old phrase “humps and grumps”, slights and snubs.^[7][8][2] The OED suggests that grump was prompted by grunt, with an ending that imitates a wordless sound of displeasure,^[2] and Merriam-Webster and Hoad also take it as imitative.^[4][8] Barnhart and Etymonline suggest that it may be an extension of grum, morose, surly, of uncertain origin, which they compare with Danish grum (“cruel”);^[6][5] Klein relates it to grum, grumble and grim.^[9] Hoad thinks it is probably of dialect origin.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Surly, ill-tempered: 1778, in Frances Burney's Evelina.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The word grump first appears in 1727, in Defoe, in the phrase humps and grumps, slights and snubs, which was out of use by 1760.^[2][6] The grumps, a fit of sulks, followed in 1844, and a grump, an ill-humoured person, in 1900.^[2][6][5] The adjective spread in colloquial use: the English Dialect Dictionary found it in general dialect use in Scotland, Ireland and England, with the forms grumfy in Cumberland and grumphy in Northumberland and west Somerset.^[10] In Cumberland and south Worcestershire it could also mean out of sorts or low-spirited.^[10] In Scotland the variant grumphie was also a name for a pig.^[5] Grumpiness is recorded from the mid-19th century and grumpily from the late 19th.^[3]

Timeline

• 1727 – humps and grumps, slights and snubs (Defoe).^[2][6]
• 1778 – grumpy, surly, ill-tempered.^[2][4][6]
• 1844 – the grumps, a fit of ill humour.^[2][6]
• mid 19th century – grumpiness.^[3]
• late 19th century – grumpily.^[3]
• 1900 – a grump, a bad-tempered person.^[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Bad-tempered and sulky; surly or peevish: The porter was grumpy after a long night shift.^[11][4][2]
2. (dialect) Out of sorts or low in spirits.^[10]

Noun

1. A bad-tempered person.^[11][4]

Word family

• grumpily
• grumpiness
• ungrumpy

Related words

• grump
• grum
• grumble
• grunt

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins