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
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
While Jean Seberg once imbued Cécile with girlish petulance, McInerny gives the role an electric charge of ambivalence.
—Natalia Winkelman, New York Times, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for petulance
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
While Jean Seberg once imbued Cécile with girlish petulance, McInerny gives the role an electric charge of ambivalence.
—Natalia Winkelman, New York Times, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for petulance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petulance
Noun
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The irritability or walking into a room only to forget why seconds later.—
Laura Trujillo,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
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This could look like mood swings, irritability, hostility, feelings of depression, and thoughts of suicide or self-harm.—
Ashleigh N. DeLuca,
Parents,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This massive one by Salaün — her second of three en route to 19 points — was set up by the aggression of Leite, who became the attacker that moved Dallas’ defense.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
5 Sep. 2025
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Thomas Heatherwick gave a lecture at the Russian Pavilion, a questionable choice in itself and one that drew calls for a boycott, considering Russia’s curators canceled the country’s participation in the Biennale because of the country’s aggression in Ukraine.—
Kate Wagner,
Curbed,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Petulance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petulance. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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