querulous

[ kwer-uh-luhs, kwer-yuh- ]
See synonyms for: querulousquerulousness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. full of complaints; complaining.

  2. characterized by or uttered in complaint; peevish: a querulous tone; constant querulous reminders of things to be done.

Origin of querulous

1
1490–1500; <Latin querulus, equivalent to quer(ī) to complain + -ulus-ulous

Other words for querulous

Opposites for querulous

Other words from querulous

  • quer·u·lous·ly, adverb
  • quer·u·lous·ness, noun
  • un·quer·u·lous, adjective
  • un·quer·u·lous·ly, adverb
  • un·quer·u·lous·ness, noun

Words Nearby querulous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use querulous in a sentence

  • The human sweetness in him was half dried up, and a misanthropy, so new and alien to him, made him querulous and captious.

    The Life of Mazzini | Bolton King
  • Mrs Beazeley, the housekeeper, has become inert and querulous from rheumatism and the burden of added years.

    Newton Forster | Captain Frederick Marryat

British Dictionary definitions for querulous

querulous

/ (ˈkwɛrʊləs, ˈkwɛrjʊ-) /


adjective
  1. inclined to make whining or peevish complaints

  2. characterized by or proceeding from a complaining fretful attitude or disposition: a querulous tone

Origin of querulous

1
C15: from Latin querulus from querī to complain

Derived forms of querulous

  • querulously, adverb
  • querulousness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012