What does “Morgenmuffel” mean in German?

Morgenmuffel is the German single-word answer to a phrase English needs five words for: “person who is grumpy in the morning.” German loves to stack two ideas into one word, and Morgenmuffel is one of the most beloved examples. Morgen means “morning”; Muffel means “grump” or “moaner.” Stack them and you get a person who refuses to be cheerful before coffee.

This clip is a couples-quiz reel that asks “Wer ist der größere Morgenmuffel?” (“who’s the bigger morning grump?”). The compound has many cousins: Sportmuffel (“exercise-grump”), Partymuffel (“party-grump”), Krawattenmuffel (“tie-grump”). The pattern works on almost anything.