crotchety

• crochety

crotchet +‎ -y, using crotchet in the 16th-century sense of a whim or fancy.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɒtʃ.ə.tɪ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɑ.t͡ʃɪ.ti/

• Audio (US)

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crotchety (comparative crotchetier or more crotchety, superlative crotchetiest or most crotchety)

1. Cranky, disagreeable, or stubborn, especially if prone to odd whims or fancies.
   • 1929, William Faulkner, “JUNE SECOND 1910”, in The Sound and the Fury, Random House, Inc., published ≥1956, page 184:

         “and Gerald‘s grandfather always picked his own mint before breakfast, while the dew was still on it. He wouldnt even let old Wilkie touch it do you remember Gerald but always gathered it himself and made his own julep. He was as crochety about his julep as an old maid, measuring everything by a recipe in his head. There was only one man he ever gave that recipe to; that was”