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.