petulance

plural petulances

1. countableobsoleteuncountableRudeness, insolence.First known use 16th–19th c.

   [W]ise men knew, that that, which looked like pride in some, and like petulance in others, would, by experience in affairs, and conversation amongst men, both of which most of them wanted, be in time wrought off […]

   1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater

2. countableobsoleteuncountableAn insolent remark or act.First known use 17th–19th c.

   I believe I was guilty of a petulance, which nothing but my uneasy situation can excuse; if that can.

   1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LXIX”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC

3. countableuncountableChildish impatience or sulkiness; testiness.First known use 18th c.

   She […] had shown herself angry and sore, and was now ashamed of her own petulance, and yet unable to discontinue it.

   1857, Anthony Trollope, “Another Love Scene”, in Barchester Towers. […], copyright edition, volume II, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1859, →OCLC, page 40

   Synonyms: caprice, capriciousness, moodiness, tetchiness