petulant, a. (n.)
(ˈpɛtjʊlənt)
Also 7–8 erron. petulent.
[a. F. pétulant (1350 in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. L. petulānt-em, pr. pple. of *petulāre, dim. of petĕre to aim at, seek, quasi ‘to aim at or assail in jest’. In sense 3, which is not found in L. or Fr., app. influenced by petted, pettish.]
1. Forward or immodest in speech or behaviour; wanton, lascivious. Now rare.
| 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie iii. xi, Deride me not, though I seeme petulant To fall into thy chops. a 1625 Fletcher & Mass. Laws Candy ii. i, I have been both nurs'd and train'd up to Her petulant humours, and been glad to bear them. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 277 Corrupted..amongst Lascivious and Petulent Men and Women, through various sorts of Vncleannesses, which are against God's Law. 1783 Ld. Hailes Antiq. Chr. Ch. ii. 20 Amongst the lively, petulant, and licentious inhabitants of Alexandria. 1859 G. Meredith R. Feverel III. v. 128 The air of petulant gallantry. |
2. Pert; saucy; insolent; rude. Now rare.
| 1605 B. Jonson Volpone iii. ii, Look, see, these petulant things, How they have done this! c 1611 Chapman Iliad xix. 27 The petulent swarm Of flies. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 256 A kind of Back-biting mockery, proceeding from mans petulant wit and invention. 1693 Dryden Disc. Orig. & Progr. Satire Ess. (Ker) II. 23 The petulant scribblers of this age. 1729 T. Cooke Tales, Proposals, etc. 124 Mr. Theobald is treated in so unhandsome, foolish, and petulant, a Manner, thro the Dunciad. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 175 He is..as fair a mark as factious animosity and petulant wit could desire. |
3. Displaying peevish or pettish impatience and irritation, especially on slight occasion.
| 1755 Johnson, Peevish, petulant, waspish, easily offended. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia v. iii, He was grown so ill⁓humoured and petulant. 1830 D'Israeli Chas. I, III. v. 72 Laud was petulant, passionate, and impatient of contradiction. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Manners Wks. (Bohn) II. 46 The Englishman is very petulant and precise about his accommodation at inns, and on the road. 1874 Green Short Hist. viii. §2. 470 The address was met by a petulant scolding from James. 1888 Hume Mme. Midas i. iii, With a petulant gesture she hurled the rose out of the window. |
B. n. A petulant person (esp. in sense A. 3).
| 1682 Shadwell Lanc. Witches i. Wks. 1720 III. 225 Come, good petulant, Mr. Chop-logick, pack up your few books..And leave my house. 1755 Man No. 2. 4 Can satire be too sharp for such petulants? 1893 T. M. Healy in Westm. Gaz. 2 Nov. 2/1 Hostile journalists..pursued Mr. Parnell at the outset of his Parliamentary career as a bore, a blunderer, and a petulant. |