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
-
The result can mean fatigue, irritability and diminished mental focus for the individual tasked with working in the heat.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Sep. 2025
-
The irritability or walking into a room only to forget why seconds later.—
Laura Trujillo,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In terms of behavioral issues, aggression, social conflict, and soiling were the most common.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Rutte and Grynkewich described NATO’s eastern flank as the front line of defense, but dismissed arguments that the whole alliance wasn’t at risk of Russian aggression.—
Mike Brest,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Petulance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petulance. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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