querulous

[ kwer-uh-luhs, kwer-yuh- ]

/ ˈkwɛr ə ləs, ˈkwɛr yə- /

adjective

full of complaints; complaining.

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

Words nearby querulous

quercitron, querist, quern, quernstone, quersprung, querulous, query, query language, querétaro, ques., quesadilla

Origin of querulous

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

SYNONYMS FOR querulous

1, 2 petulant, testy; caviling, carping, discontented.

ANTONYMS FOR querulous

1 contented.

OTHER WORDS FROM querulous

quer·u·lous·ly, adverbquer·u·lous·ness, nounun·quer·u·lous, adjectiveun·quer·u·lous·ly, adverb

un·quer·u·lous·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for querulously

His wife was coming downstairs, querulously, waveringly; her eyes red from weeping.
Tramping on Life|Harry Kemp
Now it was filled with an afternoon glow, like powdered gold, and the querulously sweet piping of an early robin.
The Happy End|Joseph Hergesheimer
"No, I ain't goin' to get out again, Norm," he said querulously.
The Deserter, and Other Stories|Harold Frederic
"We'll have to carry the cannon on the canoes, and maybe they'll fall into the river," said Alloway querulously.
The Keepers of the Trail|Joseph A. Altsheler

Querulously he complained that people would not take him seriously, that they treated him as a fabulist.
Lafcadio Hearn|Nina H. Kennard

British Dictionary definitions for querulously

querulous

/ (ˈkwɛrʊləs, ˈkwɛrjʊ-) /

adjective

inclined to make whining or peevish complaints

characterized by or proceeding from a complaining fretful attitude or dispositiona querulous tone

Derived forms of querulous

querulously, adverbquerulousness, noun

Word Origin for querulous

C15: from Latin querulus from querī to complain

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