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Definition of petulant - 4 dictionary results

pet⋅u⋅lant

  [pech-uh-luhnt]
Use petulant in a Sentence
–adjective
moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, esp. over some trifling annoyance: a petulant toss of the head.
Origin:
1590–1600; < L petulant- (s. of petulāns) impudent, akin to petere to seek, head for

Related forms:
pet⋅u⋅lant⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
irritable, peevish, fretful, pettish, touchy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pet·u·lant   (pěch'ə-lənt)   
adj.  
  1. Unreasonably irritable or ill-tempered; peevish.
  2. Contemptuous in speech or behavior.

[Latin petulāns, petulant-, insolent, from petere, to assail; see pet- in Indo-European roots.]
pet'u·lance, pet'u·lan·cy n., pet'u·lant·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Petulant

Pet"u*lant\, a. [L. petulans, -antis, prop., making slight attacks upon, from a lost dim. of petere to fall upon, to attack: cf. F. p['e]tulant. See Petition.]

1. Forward; pert; insolent; wanton. [Obs.] --Burton.

2. Capriciously fretful; characterized by ill-natured freakishness; irritable. "Petulant moods." --Macaulay.

Syn: Irritable; ill-humored; peevish; cross; fretful; querulous.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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petulant 
1599, "immodest, wanton, saucy," from M.Fr. petulant (1350), from L. petulantem (nom. petulans) "wanton, froward, insolent," from the root of petere "rush at, seek" (see petition). Meaning "peevish, irritable" first recorded 1775, probably by influence of pet (2).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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