petulant
19
8.2
- adjective
- /ˈpɛtʃələnt/
:
irritable
- He was in a petulant mood after losing the game and snapped at everyone around him.
Harry was acting like a petulant, selfish brat.
- Harry was acting like a petulant, selfish brat.
- Often times we refer to a misbehaving or petulant child in a joke.
- They may get petulant and whiny and just sort of sullen.
- The narcissist is masterful at playing the sulking, petulant victim.
- They also get angry at God and tell God, like Jonah gets petulant and sits under a tree.
- They're angry, rageful, vindictive, mean, reactive, petulant, sullen and and not nice.
- It is the most ridiculous, petulant child.
- This guy is such a titty baby, such a petulant, immature, malignant narcissist.
Examples
-
Are you always so petulant?
-
Tom, stop acting like a petulant child.
-
You are... you're like a petulant child!
-
Mama's often so, well, so petulant.
-
The gesture was petulant and sarcastic because her husband prepared most of our meals.
Fiction book (1990) -
You're behaving like a petulant child.
-
The billionaire stomped his foot on the ground like a petulant child.
Fiction book (2002) -
At times, the Somali clans seem to act like petulant children.
Academic text (1993) -
He's a petulant child.
-
Julia used the sound that most annoyed her mother, a whining, petulant, and bossy sound.
Fiction book (1993)
Synonyms
117
4.2
Easily annoyed and upset when tired or hungry
44
3.1
Feeling annoyed or a little angry because something keeps bothering you
32
3.7
Quick to become annoyed or angry
32
7.2
Easily annoyed and quick to get angry
22
8.5
Being bad-tempered and stubborn, often hard to deal with
18
9.6
Quick to become annoyed and show a bad mood
13
5.7
Quick to get angry or upset by small things
12
8.3
Easily upset and reacting too much in a childish way
5
8.6
Quick to become angry, often at small things
5
7.8
Quick to get annoyed by small things
4
4.2
Quick to get angry or easily annoyed
3
9.9
Easily upset or offended by small things
2
9.4
Often complaining in a whiny, unhappy way
2
9.1
Gets angry easily about small things
1
6.0
To become angry quickly and easily
1
5.6
Quick to become annoyed or upset
1
9.1
Being easily annoyed and quick to feel offended
1
8.1
Being easily annoyed by small things
1
9.9
Easily become angry and say harsh things
1
9.7
Feeling annoyed and in a bad mood
1
8.9
Being rude and getting upset by small things
1
9.9
Easily annoyed and quick to complain about small things
Quick to get annoyed about small things
Becoming easily annoyed and acting in a bad-tempered way
Being easily annoyed and bad-tempered, often showing impatience
Easily annoyed by small things
Antonyms
How Irritable
Surface Forms
Morphology
petulant = petul + ant
Although formed with the Latin-derived adjectival suffix '-ant', the stem 'petul-' is not a standalone English word and the sense is a borrowed Latin meaning, so learners cannot derive the meaning from familiar English components.
Etymology
Petulant comes from the Latin root petere, which means 'to seek' or 'rush at', and is related to the word impetuous. So, a petulant person 'rushes' into irritation over small things, which is why they are impatient and easily annoyed.