- inclined to find fault; complaining
- full of complaint; peevish
Origin of querulous
Classical Latin querulus from queri, to complain: see quarrel
The querulous boy made grocery shopping very unpleasant for his mother.
The definition of querulous is complaining, often in an argumentative or unpleasant manner.
An example of querulous is a child whining loudly in the grocery store that she wants to go home.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"querulous." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/querulous>.
APA Style
querulous. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/querulous
querulous
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"querulous." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/querulous>.
APA Style
querulous. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/querulous
querulous
adjective
- Given to complaining; peevish.
- Expressing a complaint or grievance; grumbling: a querulous voice; querulous comments.
Origin of querulous
Middle English querulose litigious, quarrelsome from Old French querelos from Late Latin querulōsus querulous from Latin querulus from querī to complain ; see kwes- in Indo-European roots.Related Forms:
- quer′u·lous·ly
adverb
- quer′u·lous·ness
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"querulous." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/querulous>.
APA Style
querulous. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/querulous
Adjective
(comparative more querulous, superlative most querulous)
- Often complaining; suggesting a complaint in expression; fretful, whining.
Origin
Late 15th century: From Late Latin querulÅsus, from Latin querulus, from queror (“I complain").
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"querulous." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/querulous>.
APA Style
querulous. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/querulous
Sentence Examples
- Her tone was now querulous and her lip drawn up, giving her not a joyful, but an animal, squirrel-like expression.
- He passed into the next room, and the deep, querulous sounds of his voice were at once heard from there.
- Though querulous because of his non-preferment, De Quincey tells us that "his lordship was a joyous, jovial, and cordial host."
- With these qualities Fichte himself combined a certain impetuosity and impatience probably derived from his mother, a woman of a somewhat querulous and jealous disposition.
- At Darmstadt he made the acquaintance of Caroline Flachsland, to whom he soon became betrothed, and who for the rest of his life supplied him with that abundance of consolatory sympathy which his sensitive and rather querulous nature appeared to require.
» more...