Definition of PETULANT

Petulant Has Latin Roots

Petulant is one of many English words that are related to the Latin verb petere, which means "to go to," "to attack," "to seek," or "to request." "Petere" is a relative of the Latin adjective petulans ("impudent"), from which "petulant" was derived. Some other words with connections to "petere" are "compete" and "appetite." "Competere," the Late Latin precursor to "compete," is a combination of the prefix com- and the verb "petere." The joining of ad- and petere led to "appetere" ("to strive after"), and eventually to Latin appetitus, the source of our "appetite." Additional descendants of "petere" are "petition," "perpetual," and "impetus."

Examples of petulant in a Sentence

Oxford's denial of her [Margaret Thatcher's] honorary degree in 1984 was no petulant fluke but an accurate measure of her unpopularity with the whole profession. — Harold Perkin, Times Literary Supplement, 26 June 1992 In the hot, petulant little cockpit she was triumphant—drunk with anger, defiance, and the beginnings of relief. — Sebastian Faulks, Independent on Sunday (London), 25 Nov. 1990 Sometimes, under … rapid-fire questioning, he became petulant and quibbled over words in a way that suggested a close reading of the law. — Frances FitzGerald, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 1989 Mouth petulant but its hardness in it, behind it. Looking at that mouth you felt her teeth in you … — Jayne Anne Phillips, Black Tickets, (1975) 1979 Her tone was petulant and angry. a petulant and fussy man who is always blaming everyone else for his problems

Recent Examples on the Web As the emotional child in his family, he was imbued with a streak of petulant darkness, which runs subtly through all of his work. — Carrie Battan, The New Yorker, "John Mulaney Is Not So Square," 7 Jan. 2020 Of course, adults may wonder why Mr. Curry doesn’t simply evict the bear after the first domestic mishap, but this petulant man is pretty clueless, too. — Laurel Graeber, New York Times, "Review: Sweet Bear, Sticky Situation in ‘Paddington Gets in a Jam’," 22 Dec. 2019 True to form, Trump commented furiously on social media, retweeting supporters seemingly at random and sharing petulant memes about the results of the impeachment investigation. — Emma Specter, Vogue, "Here’s How Donald Trump—And Others—Reacted to His Impeachment on Twitter," 19 Dec. 2019 Another way, as displayed by Trump’s turn on the Great Lakes, is to focus a bipartisan outrage campaign on a monumental national landmark in a swing state, and pray that the electoral calculus is enough to sway a petulant president. — Nick Martin, The New Republic, "The Cruel Lottery to Save America’s Public Lands," 28 Oct. 2019 When his parentage was first revealed in The Force Awakens, the biggest question was how exactly did Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford), our heroes of the Rebellion, wind up with this petulant mini-Vader as a son? — Lauren Morgan, EW.com, "Everything you need to know about Kylo Ren ahead of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," 2 Dec. 2019 For an emerging superpower, China can seem thin-skinned, and its reactions petulant. — New York Times, "American Basketball vs. Chinese Hardball: Guess Who Won," 13 Oct. 2019 The content of Donald Trump’s tweets is not in and of itself very interesting: the expression of a mediocre mind that is high on rage, petulant, and liable to fall for conspiracy theories and flattery. — Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, "The Gospel According to Kanye," 7 Nov. 2019 This is another win-at-all costs situation where yet again some adults are acting like petulant children. — Mick Mccabe, Detroit Free Press, "To Chandler Park high school football: Is state playoff worth losing your self-respect?," 24 Oct. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'petulant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.