CROSSNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does crossness mean? 

• CROSSNESS (noun)
  The noun CROSSNESS has 2 senses:

1. an irritable petulant feeling

2. a disposition to be ill-tempered

  Familiarity information: CROSSNESS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CROSSNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An irritable petulant feeling

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

choler; crossness; fretfulness; fussiness; irritability; peevishness; petulance

Hypernyms ("crossness" is a kind of...):

distemper; ill humor; ill humour (an angry and disagreeable mood)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crossness"):

testiness; tetchiness; touchiness (feeling easily irritated)

pet (a fit of petulance or sulkiness (especially at what is felt to be a slight))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A disposition to be ill-tempered

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

crabbedness; crabbiness; crossness

Hypernyms ("crossness" is a kind of...):

ill nature (a disagreeable, irritable, or malevolent disposition)

Derivation:

cross (annoyed and irritable)

 Context examples 

Chuse your own degree of crossness.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

And I must say that Lucy's crossness not to take them along with them in the chaise is worse than all.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)