Meldrewish

English

Etymology

From Meldrew +‎ -ish, after Victor Meldrew, a grumpy old man who is the fictional protagonist of the 1990s sitcom One Foot in the Grave.

Adjective

Meldrewish (comparative more Meldrewish, superlative most Meldrewish)

1. grumpy; prone to peevish exasperation

   Synonym: Meldrewesque

   • 1998, Stephen Phillips, Galloway Kyle, Harold Monro, Poetry Review, page 89:

     If occasionally a poem luxuriates in its nostalgia without much point ('Without Potatoes' is a Meldrewish whinge about Spud-U-Likes), […]

   • 2007, The Spectator, volume 303, page 55:

     Far from being a Meldrewish ogre, Wilson turns out to be one of the friendliest, most open-hearted and most modest […]