Dictionary

pettishly en · ADV

Etymology

Etymology tree English pettish Middle English -ly English -ly English pettishly From pettish + -ly.

Meanings

1. In a pettish manner; peevishly.
   • Lady Mary turned pettishly away; no woman likes anybody but herself to depreciate a lover; it is personally an ill compliment. 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Ranelagh”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 9:
   • [S]he complained pettishly of the heat and the flies and at length of the walk, and reduced Robert to the antics of an obsequious dog. 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 118:
   • `Why did you keep me standing there in the cold?' he asked pettishly. 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
   • "You are very dull this morning, Sheriff," said the youngest daughter of the house, who, being the baby and pretty, had grown pettishly privileged in speech. 1895, S. R. Crockett, A Cry Across the Black Water:

Forms