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.

Nearby words

querent, querist, quern, quernstone, quersprung, querulous, querulously, query, query language, querétaro, ques.

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.

Related forms

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 Formsquerulously, 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

Word Origin and History for querulously

querulous

adj.

c.1400, from Old French querelos "quarrelsome, argumentative" and directly from Late Latin querulosus, from Latin querulus "full of complaints, complaining," from queri "to complain." Retains the original vowel of quarrel (n.1). Related: Querulously; querulousness.