Curmudgeon

Boy, has the meaning of this word changed!

Nowadays, "curmudgeon" is used exclusively to mean an opinionated old fart who is angry that young people don't value the things he/she does. A curmudgeon usually has a grim, pessimistic vision of the future and his fellow man.

Famous historical curmudgeons:

Hesiod
Socrates
Jonathan Swift
Richard Francis Burton
H. L. Mencken

The most famous curmudgeon today is probably Andy Rooney.

Cur*mudg"eon (k?r-m?j"?n), n. [OE. cornmudgin, where -mudgin is prob. from OF. muchier, mucier, F. musser to hide; of uncertain origin; cf. OE. muchares skulking thieves, E. miche, micher.]

An avaricious, grasping fellow; a miser; a niggard; a churl.

A gray-headed curmudgeon of a negro. W. Irving.

 

© Webster 1913.