SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
petulant
adjective
Childishly irritable over minor frustrations.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Childishly irritable
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topPetulant suggests childish displeasure over frustration. Sulky is more withdrawn, while snappish describes an abrupt manner.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See petulant in use
His petulant complaint about the seating embarrassed his companions.
Later, an actor became petulant because a minor costume adjustment delayed his scene.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license