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petulant

/ˈpɛtʃələnt/
/ˈpɛtʃəlɪnt/
IPA guide

Choose the adjective petulant to describe a person or behavior that is irritable in a childish way.

The adjective petulant is a disapproving term used to describe a bad-tempered child, an adult behaving like an angry child or behavior of this type. It's one thing to be angry or annoyed but if someone is petulant, they're acting in an unreasonable or unjustified manner. Petulant came to English in the late 16th century from the Latin petulantem, "forward, insolent" but was not recorded to mean "childishly irritable" until the late 1700s.

Definitions of petulant
  1. adjective
    easily irritated or annoyed
    ill-natured
    having an irritable and unpleasant disposition
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