petulance

pet·u·lant  (pch-lnt) adj. 1. Unreasonably irritable or ill-tempered; peevish. 2. Contemptuous in speech or behavior. [Latin petulns, petulant-, insolent, from petere, to assail; see pet- in Indo-European roots.] petu·lance, petu·lan·cy n. petu·lant·ly adv.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Noun

1.

petulance - an irritable petulant feeling         choler, crossness, fretfulness, fussiness, irritability,peevishness ill humor, ill humour, distemper - an angry and disagreeable mood testiness, tetchiness, touchiness - feeling easily irritated pet - a fit of petulance or sulkiness (especially at what is felt to be a slight)

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2008 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.