as in crab
an irritable and complaining person
that old sourpuss must spend all his time making sure no one traipses across his lawn
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Recent Examples of sourpuss
The Republicans sat like stubborn sourpusses eager for the 81-year-old president to stumble.
—
Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024
More than a few folks, including one sourpuss in Toronto, have assumed the name refers to how fast your soup arrives once ordered, but that didn’t make sense to me.
—Washington Post, 9 Aug. 2021
Four generations on, the Grinch’s humble roots on the page as a black-and-white sourpuss, looking down on Who-ville and rueing the impending town feast, have become a Christmas cottage industry.
—Patrick Sauer, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Dec. 2020
The suggestion turns me into Schrödinger's sourpuss: neither angry nor disappointed but a superposition of both.
—Tom Simonite, Wired, 18 Feb. 2020
Even a sourpuss like Heifetz let his hair down madly dashing through the finale like a child’s first moments at Disneyland.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2019
Reeves shoulders the dual roles of twin brothers with markedly divergent personalities: peevish sourpuss John and sweet-natured James, who is deep into a losing battle with AIDS.
—Don Aucoin, BostonGlobe.com, 7 May 2018
According to the Washington Post, a jury awarded famed sourpuss Grumpy Cat $710,000 in damages on Monday, settling a lawsuit that began in 2015 between the cat’s company and the Grenade beverage company.
—Kate Hogan, PEOPLE.com, 25 Jan. 2018
To most Internet users, Grumpy Cat - the feline with a furry frown - is a minor celebrity that capitalized on the popularity of memes in 2012 as a perpetual sourpuss.
—The Washington Post, OregonLive.com, 25 Jan. 2018
Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024
More than a few folks, including one sourpuss in Toronto, have assumed the name refers to how fast your soup arrives once ordered, but that didn’t make sense to me.
—Washington Post, 9 Aug. 2021
Four generations on, the Grinch’s humble roots on the page as a black-and-white sourpuss, looking down on Who-ville and rueing the impending town feast, have become a Christmas cottage industry.
—Patrick Sauer, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Dec. 2020
The suggestion turns me into Schrödinger's sourpuss: neither angry nor disappointed but a superposition of both.
—Tom Simonite, Wired, 18 Feb. 2020
Even a sourpuss like Heifetz let his hair down madly dashing through the finale like a child’s first moments at Disneyland.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2019
Reeves shoulders the dual roles of twin brothers with markedly divergent personalities: peevish sourpuss John and sweet-natured James, who is deep into a losing battle with AIDS.
—Don Aucoin, BostonGlobe.com, 7 May 2018
According to the Washington Post, a jury awarded famed sourpuss Grumpy Cat $710,000 in damages on Monday, settling a lawsuit that began in 2015 between the cat’s company and the Grenade beverage company.
—Kate Hogan, PEOPLE.com, 25 Jan. 2018
To most Internet users, Grumpy Cat - the feline with a furry frown - is a minor celebrity that capitalized on the popularity of memes in 2012 as a perpetual sourpuss.
—The Washington Post, OregonLive.com, 25 Jan. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sourpuss
Noun
-
These included cooked shrimp, grilled chicken, imitation crab salad and spicy tuna.—
Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado,
Sacbee.com,
23 May 2025
-
The solitary creatures consume upwards of 1,000 pounds of food per day, with their diet largely consisting of shrimp, krill, crabs and schooling fish, according to NOAA.—
Brendan Rascius,
Miami Herald,
19 May 2025
Noun
-
There are steps people can take to help prevent a bear encounter from becoming a bear attack.—
Helena Wegner,
Sacbee.com,
23 May 2025
-
Only bears in human-bear coexistence landscapes showed this nocturnal shift.—
Lesley Evans Ogden,
Smithsonian Magazine,
23 May 2025
Noun
-
Fittingly, McNally’s ascent began with the crank of star-making machinery.—
Molly Fischer,
New Yorker,
5 May 2025
-
But af Klint might have just as easily faded into obscurity, her work forgotten, her spiritual messages dismissed as a crank’s.—
Jay Cheshes,
Smithsonian Magazine,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The comedy community, meanwhile, was shocked, too, because Hoffman is mostly known as a curmudgeon.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
5 Mar. 2025
-
Amid Baldwin’s chaotic home life with his seven young children, his wife Hilaria Baldwin tries to depict him as a lovable curmudgeon who’s often misunderstood because of his famously volatile personality.—
Martha Ross,
The Mercury News,
25 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sourpuss.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sourpuss. Accessed 30 May. 2025.
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