petulant

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Childishly irritable.

   Lack of sleep is causing Dave's recent petulant behavior.

2. 2
   adj

   Forward; pert; insolent; wanton.

   Who hath not like cause to complain, and is not so troubled, that shall fall into the mouths of such men? for many are of so petulant a spleen.

Simplified etymology

Petulant entered English in the mid-16th century and ultimately derives from Latin petere, “aim at” or “seek.” It originally meant immodest in what one sought.

From Middle French, from Latin petulāns, akin to petō (“to ask for”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary