different between crotchety vs uncertain

English

Alternative forms

• crochety

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k??t?.?.t?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?k??.t??.ti/

Adjective

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

1. Cranky, disagreeable, or stubborn, especially if prone to odd whims or fancies.

Translations

English

Etymology

un- +? certain

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?s??t?n/
• Rhymes: -??(r)t?n

Adjective

uncertain (comparative more uncertain, superlative most uncertain)

1. Not certain; unsure.
   • 1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious

     Man, without the protection of a superior Being, […] is […] uncertain of everything that he hopes for.

2. Not known for certain; questionable.

3. Not yet determined; undecided.
4. Variable and subject to change.
5. Fitful or unsteady.

   • Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

6. Unpredictable or capricious.

Antonyms

• certain

Related terms

• uncertainly, uncertainty

Translations

Noun

uncertain pl (plural only)

1. (with "the") Something uncertain.

Anagrams

• N Centauri, centaurin, encurtain, runcinate