WORD OF DAY: PETULANT
adjective|PET-chuh-lunt
What It Means
Petulant describes a person who is angry and annoyed, or an attitude or behavior showing the emotions of such a person.
// I didn’t appreciate being accused of acting like a petulant toddler.
// Her tone became petulant when she realised that the items on sale were no longer available.
Examples of PETULANT
“When Moira reached her mother on the phone, it was hard to take in any information other than that she was being sent away. ‘Babysitting and secretarial work?’ Moira said without saying hello. ‘Organising lessons?’ ‘Hello, Moira,’ Nina said. ‘Let’s drop this petulant teenager routine.’ ‘I am a petulant teenager.’” — Keziah Weir, The Mythmakers: A Novel, 2023.
Did You Know?
Petulant may have changed its meaning over the years, but it has retained its status as “word most people would not use to describe themselves in a job interview.” Hailing from Middle French and Latin, petulant began its English tenure in the late 16th century with the meaning recorded in our unabridged dictionary as “wanton or immodest in speech or behavior”—in other words, “lewd” or “obscene.” The word eventually softened, at least somewhat, from describing those who are forward in—shall we say—prurient ways, to those who are forward by being merely rude and angrily bold. Today the word is most commonly used to describe someone acting snippy and snippety, snappish and snappy, displaying an often childish ill or short temper of the kind that tends to arise from annoyance at not getting one’s way.
Merriam Webster Dictionary
