petulant

See also: pétulant

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛt͡ʃʊlənt/, /ˈpɛtjʊlənt/, /ˈpɛt͡ʃələnt/, /ˈpɛtjələnt/

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Adjective

petulant (comparative more petulant, superlative most petulant)

1. Childishly irritable.

   Synonyms: bad-tempered, crabby, grouchy, huffy; see also Thesaurus:irritable

   Antonym: easygoing

   Lack of sleep is causing Dave's recent petulant behavior.

   • 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 61:

     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.

   • 2021 December 13, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in Time Magazine‎, archived from the original on 13 December 2021:

     Former associates have described Musk as petty, cruel and petulant, particularly when frustrated or challenged.

   • 2022, Chuck Klosterman, The Nineties, New York: Penguin Press, →ISBN:

     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.

2. (obsolete) Forward; pert; insolent; wanton.

   Synonyms: brazen, flippant, impertinent; see also Thesaurus:cheeky

   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:

     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

Derived terms

• petulantly
• unpetulant

Translations

easily irritated or annoyed

Armenian: խռովկան (hy) (xṙovkan) (colloquial), նեղացկոտ (hy) (neġacʻkot) Bulgarian: сприхав (bg) (sprihav), раздразнителен (bg) (razdraznitelen) Chinese: Mandarin: 易怒 (zh) (yì nù) Czech: popudlivý m Dutch: luimig (nl), prikkelbaar (nl), zenuwachtig (nl) Esperanto: petola Faroese: bitutur Finnish: kiukutteleva French: irascible (fr), pétulant (fr) Galician: farfallán, chufón (gl), botado, bamborriñeiro German: leicht reizbar, gereizt (de), nervös (de), launisch (de), launenhaft (de), verdrießlich (de), borstig (de), bockig (de), zickig (de) Haitian Creole: agresif Hungarian: sértődékeny (hu), ingerlékeny (hu), nyűgös (hu) Italian: petulante (it) Latin: petulans Macedonian: раздразлив (razdrazliv), разгневен (razgneven) Maori: whanewhane, ngutu hāwere Norwegian: Bokmål: amper (no), hårsår (no), lunefull, pirrelig Nynorsk: amper (no), hårsår (no), lunefull, pirrelig Ottoman Turkish: تتیز (titiz), خرچین (hırçın) Plautdietsch: prunsch Polish: drażliwy (pl) Russian: раздражи́тельный (ru) (razdražítelʹnyj), вздорный (ru) (vzdornyj) Slovak: nevrlý Spanish: petulante (es), mostrar petulancia (verb), ponerse tonto (verb, colloquial)

Anagrams

• patulent

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French pétulant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpeː.tuˈlɑnt/
• Hyphenation: pe‧tu‧lant

Adjective

petulant (not comparable)

1. (rare) exuberant

Declension

Declension of petulant
uninflected	petulant
inflected	petulante
comparative	—
		positive
predicative/adverbial		petulant
indefinite	m./f. sing.	petulante
	n. sing.	petulant
	plural	petulante
definite		petulante
partitive		petulants

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French pétulant.

Adjective

petulant m or n (feminine singular petulantă, masculine plural petulanți, feminine/neuter plural petulante)

1. (literary) exuberant, lively

   Synonyms: vioi, zburdalnic

Declension

Declension of petulant

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	petulant		petulantă		petulanți	petulante
	definite	petulantul		petulanta		petulanții	petulantele
genitive- dative	indefinite	petulant		petulante		petulanți	petulante
	definite	petulantului		petulantei		petulanților	petulantelor