as in irritable
easily irritated or annoyed
a petulant and fussy man who is always blaming everyone else for his problems
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Recent Examples of petulant
This petulant man, who wields awesome power, also has the nuclear codes.
—
Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Jan. 2026
What Laxe has orchestrated is not a simplistic clash of cultures but a collective upending of fortunes in which the rulings of fate, or of Allah, prove too cruel and too permanent to trigger a petulant blame game.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2025
The petulant, back-stabby intrigue between various parties here sometimes makes the hero rather unsympathetic, with photogenic singer-actor Pena Hernandez’s puppyish turn not conveying a great deal of complexity, let alone artistic o intellectual potential.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025
Tom Hulce portrayed the musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a petulant, bratty young genius with a distinctive laugh, insatiable appetite and endless talent.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for petulant
Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Jan. 2026
What Laxe has orchestrated is not a simplistic clash of cultures but a collective upending of fortunes in which the rulings of fate, or of Allah, prove too cruel and too permanent to trigger a petulant blame game.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2025
The petulant, back-stabby intrigue between various parties here sometimes makes the hero rather unsympathetic, with photogenic singer-actor Pena Hernandez’s puppyish turn not conveying a great deal of complexity, let alone artistic o intellectual potential.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025
Tom Hulce portrayed the musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a petulant, bratty young genius with a distinctive laugh, insatiable appetite and endless talent.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for petulant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petulant
Adjective
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Caroly is immediately affected, glued to the TV; John, suddenly irritable, retreats.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2026
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Rather than get irritable online, Medeiros did something positive about it.—
Dan Medeiros,
The Herald News,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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If left alone, the spacecraft will lose the race later this year and fall out of orbit, bringing a fiery end to its long scientific tenure.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
26 Mar. 2026
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This is how friends and family described 18-year-old Park Hill High School senior Tessa Walker, who was killed in a fiery crash in rural Platte County early Sunday morning.—
Caroline Zimmerman,
Kansas City Star,
25 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Petulant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petulant. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
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