Skip to content

bisbetico

grumpy

adjective beez-BEH-tee-koh Rare

Also means

cantankerous

Usage Note

Bisbetico describes a person who is ill-tempered, peevish, or hard to get along with — a gruff, cantankerous character. It is widely known from Shakespeare's play La bisbetica domata (The Taming of the Shrew). Feminine: bisbetica; plural: bisbetici / bisbetiche.

Examples

"Il vecchio era bisbetico con tutti i vicini."

Natural Translation

The old man was grumpy with all the neighbours.

Explore Italian by topic