How to Use petulant in a Sentence

petulant

adjective
  • Her tone was petulant and angry.
  • The rest of the sports world sees a petulant young star and a coach, who might be in over his head.
    — Kent Somers, AZCentral.com, 27 Oct. 2022
  • Friends told me to brace myself for the petulant movie star, the diva.
    — Devan Díaz, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2025
  • Fessy is left alone in the volcano to whine like a petulant child.
    — Kyndall Cunningham, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2021
  • Removing those wings was a dark, petulant touch from the goths of the high seas.
    — Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 15 July 2024
  • What’s more — the entire thing feels a bit petulant in the face of the looming election.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024
  • But that car was a boost bomb, with torque steer to shame a Saab and the demeanor of a petulant teenager.
    — Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, 20 Nov. 2020
  • But, of course, the petulant president would rather take his lectern and stay home.
    — Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 8 Oct. 2020
  • And Bellingham has become a petulant bore in terms of his ego and mouth.
    — Guillermo Rai, The Athletic, 16 Feb. 2025
  • And Bellingham has become a petulant bore in terms of his ego and mouth.
    — Guillermo Rai, The Athletic, 16 Feb. 2025
  • And as a petulant curator of my own tastes, this was enough to turn my nose at it.
    — Bolu Babalola, Harper's BAZAAR, 27 May 2021
  • His over-the-top performance is a blend of a petulant child and Kim Jong-Un, with haircut to match.
    — Theodore P. Mahne, NOLA.com, 26 Oct. 2017
  • Instead we got stuck with a petulant child (who has grown up since then).
    — Daniel Nugent-Bowman, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
  • Like a petulant child tired of losing, Beijing tossed the entire thing into the garbage bin.
    — Timothy McLaughlin, The Atlantic, 20 Dec. 2021
  • Daniels and Trump: Online, one of them is often lewd, petulant, brash and self-involved.
    — Monica Hesse, Sun-Sentinel.com, 12 Mar. 2018
  • Daniels and Trump: Online, one of them is often lewd, petulant, brash and self-involved.
    — Monica Hesse, chicagotribune.com, 11 Mar. 2018
  • Daniels and Trump: Online, one of them is often lewd, petulant, brash and self-involved.
    — Monica Hesse, Sun-Sentinel.com, 12 Mar. 2018
  • She's come off spoiled, petulant and worst of all privileged.
    — Joey Guerra, Houston Chronicle, 8 Feb. 2018
  • Oscar, the petulant bird, was lured into a pen after a 50-mph run at a Telluride scouting the route.
    — Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 17 Feb. 2020
  • The young girl is petulant and bored at times, playing cards and listening to her grandma’s old-timey records.
    — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Oct. 2024
  • This is more than the frustrated outburst of a petulant woman.
    — Washington Post, 13 Jan. 2021
  • By day two Goodman, up to then a shuffling, silent, and petulant presence slumped at the end of the defense table, had a snap in his step.
    — Kevin Conley, Town & Country, 24 Dec. 2012
  • At first the cephalopods, like petulant tots, pulled off the glasses—until scientists plied them with treats: live shrimps.
    — National Geographic, 19 May 2020
  • That sounds like something a petulant 5th grader would say.
    — Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 12 Feb. 2024
  • So does a trio of warbling rocks: petulant, stubborn creatures who insist on the rules.
    — Justin Davidson, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2021
  • When asked, his responses boil down to the equivalent of a one-word answer from a petulant child: Mine!
    — Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2023
  • His petulant begging for a drop at the Memorial did not help matters).
    — Daniel Rapaport, SI.com, 6 Aug. 2019
  • The film doesn’t make any effort to explain why Alma loves this petulant genius.
    — Lindsey Bahr, kansascity, 18 Jan. 2018
  • If Republicans fail to win control of the Senate, much of the blame will rest on the petulant ex-president.
    — Los Angeles Times, 9 Nov. 2022
  • The league is siding with a petulant owner over the fans, which shouldn't be surprising but is still massively disappointing.
    — Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'petulant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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