[ noun ] an irritable petulant feeling <noun.feeling>
Petulance \Pet"u*lance\, Petulancy \Pet"u*lan*cy\, n. [L. petulania: cf. F. p['e]tulance. See {Petulant}.] The quality or state of being petulant; temporary peevishness; pettishness; capricious ill humor. ``The petulancy of our words.'' --B. Jonson.
Like pride in some, and like petulance in others. --Clarendon.
The lowering eye, the petulance, the frown. --Cowper.
Syn: {Petulance}, {Peevishness}. -- Peevishness implies the permanence of a sour, fretful temper; petulance implies temporary or capricious irritation.
Marcia Gay Harden's Harper is a revelation: she combines childish petulance and womanly longing to make what previously seemed an unplayable character one of the play's central figures.
Sometimes it was cozy and warm and nice, and sometimes it was tense and filled with accusations and petulance.
There is a nanny shortage afoot, and no amount of parental petulance will ensure that you can hire a nursemaid for your children.