as in irritability
readiness to show annoyance or impatience
I do not appreciate your petulance and eagerness to argue
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of petulance
Jimmy Butler did not have to consider the fallout of petulance because he already was known as petulant.
—
Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 1 Aug. 2025
The synths sound terrible now, and the petulance is creeping in, which does him no favors.
—Christopher Bonanos, Vulture, 18 July 2025
For all his bombast online, for instance, Marcus has said that today’s chatbots are a legitimate breakthrough, just far from the breakthrough; for all of Altman’s petulance, OpenAI’s latest large reasoning models rely on new approaches not so dissimilar from Marcus’s own, decades-old ideas.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 8 July 2025
That’s not true, of course, just like Trump’s claims about the media were just thin cover for his petulance.
—Chris Brennan, USA Today, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for petulance
Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 1 Aug. 2025
The synths sound terrible now, and the petulance is creeping in, which does him no favors.
—Christopher Bonanos, Vulture, 18 July 2025
For all his bombast online, for instance, Marcus has said that today’s chatbots are a legitimate breakthrough, just far from the breakthrough; for all of Altman’s petulance, OpenAI’s latest large reasoning models rely on new approaches not so dissimilar from Marcus’s own, decades-old ideas.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 8 July 2025
That’s not true, of course, just like Trump’s claims about the media were just thin cover for his petulance.
—Chris Brennan, USA Today, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for petulance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petulance
Noun
-
While largely benign, motion sickness can be highly unpleasant — often causing nausea, vomiting, and dizziness, as well as sweating, headache, and irritability in some cases.—
Emily Kay Votruba,
EverydayHealth.com,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Flu can impact children differently and present more general symptoms like irritability and general fussiness, or ear and stomach pain.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
2 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
His reckless decision to escalate the aggression and number of immigration agents is a causal factor, regardless of the outcome of an investigation into this tragic death.—
WCCO Staff,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
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When the music dissolves into an ethereal, ambient soundscape and a psychedelic, spiritual journey, that’s where finding the right amount of energy, aggression, violence, and grief, to support the story and to explain things that the dialog couldn’t, was the most challenging part.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Petulance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petulance. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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