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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

petulant en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /ˈpɛt͡ʃələnt/
  • (US) audio
  • /ˈpɛt͡ʃʊlənt/
  • /ˈpɛtjələnt/
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈpɛtjʊlənt/

Etymology

From Middle French, from Latin petulāns, akin to petō (“to ask for”).

Meanings

  1. Childishly irritable.
    • Lack of sleep is causing Dave's recent petulant behavior.
    • Green Day’s petulant pop-punk album Dookie came out three years after that and moved another 10 million, as did a sweeping 1995 double album by Smashing Pumpkins. 2022, Chuck Klosterman, The Nineties, New York: Penguin Press, →ISBN:
    • Former associates have described Musk as petty, cruel and petulant, particularly when frustrated or challenged. 2021 December 13, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in TIME, archived from the original on 13 Dec 2021:
    • But when your praying has troubled the silence long it may be that some god as he strolls in Pegāna’s glades may come on one of our lost prayers, that flutters like a butterfly tossed in storm when all its wings are broken; then if the gods be merciful they may ease our fears in Sidith, or else they may crush us, being petulant gods, and so we shall see trouble in Sidith no longer, with its pestilence and dearth and fears of war. 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 61:
  2. (obsolete) Forward; pert; insolent; wanton.
    • Who hath not like cause to complain, and is not so troubled, that shall fall into the mouths of such men? for many are of so petulant a spleen 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
more petulant Degree=Cmp lexicographic
most petulant Degree=Sup lexicographic

Antonyms

easygoing

Deriveds

petulantly · unpetulant

Synonyms

dicacious · forward · petulant · bold-faced · liverish · bold as brass · grotchy · crotchety · edgy · snappish · ill-natured · ornery (chiefly US)} · bilious · waspish · prickly · hot-tempered · fractious · cranky · peevish · petulant · twitchy · get wise · humpy · facey · irreverent · huffy · sassy · bitchy · raspy · irritable · pert · cantankerous · chutzpadik · surly · malapert · atrabilious · short-tempered · audacious · impertinent · quick-tempered · crabby · snippy · grouchy · bad-tempered · carnaptious · brainish · tetty · pettish · snitchy · cheeky · temperamental · umbrageous · bold · fretful · snippish · cocket · testy · brazen-faced · ill-tempered · snappy · bad-tempered · insolent · saucy · choleric · fiery · impudent · querulous · familiar · out of sorts · huffy · thin-skinned · ratty · fantoddish · brassy · grumpy · irascible · fresh · crabby · dyspeptic · cute · tetchy · brazen · crabbit · hot-livered · flip · snippety · grouchy · splenetic · stressy · touchy · brazen · hotheaded · impious · flippant · thorny · volatile · flippant · impertinent · hissy

Translations (55)

es ponerse tonto (easily irritated or annoyed) · nl luimig (easily irritated or annoyed) · gl farfallán (easily irritated or annoyed) · nl prikkelbaar (easily irritated or annoyed) · hy խռովկան (easily irritated or annoyed) · no pirrelig (easily irritated or annoyed) · nb amper (easily irritated or annoyed) · de gereizt (easily irritated or annoyed) · fr irascible (easily irritated or annoyed) · eo petola (easily irritated or annoyed) · ru раздражи́тельный (easily irritated or annoyed) · bg сприхав (easily irritated or annoyed) · mi whanewhane (easily irritated or annoyed) · fi kiukutteleva (easily irritated or annoyed) · pl drażliwy (easily irritated or annoyed) · no amper (easily irritated or annoyed) · de leicht reizbar (easily irritated or annoyed) · de borstig (easily irritated or annoyed) · de zickig (easily irritated or annoyed) · hu ingerlékeny (easily irritated or annoyed) · fr pétulant (easily irritated or annoyed) · fo bitutur (easily irritated or annoyed) · nb pirrelig (easily irritated or annoyed) · no lunefull (easily irritated or annoyed) · ota تتیز (easily irritated or annoyed) · it petulante (easily irritated or annoyed) · de bockig (easily irritated or annoyed) · es mostrar petulancia (easily irritated or annoyed) · ota خرچین (easily irritated or annoyed) · ru вздорный (easily irritated or annoyed) · hu sértődékeny (easily irritated or annoyed) · de launenhaft (easily irritated or annoyed) · de nervös (easily irritated or annoyed) · de launisch (easily irritated or annoyed) · es petulante (easily irritated or annoyed) · hy նեղացկոտ (easily irritated or annoyed) · bg раздразнителен (easily irritated or annoyed) · pdt prunsch (easily irritated or annoyed) · gl botado (easily irritated or annoyed) · mi ngutu hāwere (easily irritated or annoyed) · de verdrießlich (easily irritated or annoyed) · la petulans (easily irritated or annoyed) · ht agresif (easily irritated or annoyed) · cmn 易怒 (easily irritated or annoyed) · mk раздразлив (easily irritated or annoyed) · no hårsår (easily irritated or annoyed) · nb lunefull (easily irritated or annoyed) · gl chufón (easily irritated or annoyed) · mk разгневен (easily irritated or annoyed) · nb hårsår (easily irritated or annoyed) · cs popudlivý (easily irritated or annoyed) · hu nyűgös (easily irritated or annoyed) · sk nevrlý (easily irritated or annoyed) · nl zenuwachtig (easily irritated or annoyed) · gl bamborriñeiro (easily irritated or annoyed)