querulous [kwer-uh-luhs, kwer-yuh-] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin adjective
- full of complaints; complaining.
- characterized by or uttered in complaint; peevish: a querulous tone; constant querulous reminders of things to be done.
Origin of querulous 1490–1500; Latin querulus, equivalent to quer(ī) to complain + -ulus -ulous Related formsquer·u·lous·ly, adverbquer·u·lous·ness, nounun·quer·u·lous, adjectiveun·quer·u·lous·ly, adverbun·quer·u·lous·ness, nounSynonyms for querulous 1, 2. petulant, testy; caviling, carping, discontented.Antonyms for querulous 1. contented. Examples from the Web for querulously Historical Examples of querulously
“I—I don’t think it interests me much,” he said querulously.
Booth Tarkington
“Let me up,” he said querulously, and began to wipe his face.
George MacDonald
He whined the question, not angrily, but querulously, like a child.
George Gibbs
“What is a physician if he talk not in the language of oracles,” he said, querulously.
Duffield Osborne
“There are no crimes and no criminals in these days,” he said, querulously.
Arthur Conan Doyle
British Dictionary definitions for querulously querulous adjective
- inclined to make whining or peevish complaints
- characterized by or proceeding from a complaining fretful attitude or dispositiona querulous tone
Derived Formsquerulously, adverbquerulousness, nounWord Origin for querulous C15: from Latin querulus from querī to complain Word Origin and History for querulously querulous adj.
c.1400, from Old French querelos “quarrelsome, argumentative” and directly from Late Latin querulosus, from Latin querulus “full of complaints, complaining,” from queri “to complain.” Retains the original vowel of quarrel (n.1). Related: Querulously; querulousness.