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petulant

[pech-uh-luhnt]
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adjective
  1. moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, especially over some trifling annoyance: a petulant toss of the head.
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Origin of petulant

1590–1600; < Latin petulant- (stem of petulāns) impudent, akin to petere to seek, head for
Related formspet·u·lant·ly, adverbun·pet·u·lant, adjectiveun·pet·u·lant·ly, adverb

Synonyms

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irritable, peevish, fretful, pettish, touchy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

impatientsullenperversetestycrankyfractiousirritablewhinybad-temperedcaptiouscomplainingcrosscrybabydispleasedfault-findingfretfulgrouchygrumblinghuffymean

Examples from the Web for petulant

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • "I sha'n't tell you," came the petulant retort from the girl.

    Within the Law

    Marvin Dana

  • She shrugged her shoulders with a petulant pessimism her youth made amusing.

  • Are you mistress of the petulant, the peevish, and the sullen tone?

  • For the first time, too, there was a petulant vein in his attitude toward me.

    In the Valley

    Harold Frederic

  • Smiled, and made him ashamed of his petulant gift there, before them.

    Poems

    William D. Howells

British Dictionary definitions for petulant

petulant

adjective
  1. irritable, impatient, or sullen in a peevish or capricious way
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Derived Formspetulance or petulancy, nounpetulantly, adverb

Word Origin

C16: via Old French from Latin petulāns bold, from petulāre (unattested) to attack playfully, from petere to assail
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

Word Origin and History for petulant

adj.

1590s, "immodest, wanton, saucy," from Middle French petulant (mid-14c.), from Latin petulantem (nominative petulans) "wanton, froward, saucy, insolent," present participle of petere "to attack, assail; strive after; ask for, beg, beseech" (see petition (n.)). Meaning "peevish, irritable" first recorded 1775, probably by influence of pet (n.2). Related: Petulantly.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper