Peevish — Pee vish, a. [OE. pevische; of uncertain origin, perh. from a word imitative of the noise made by fretful children + ish.] 1. Habitually fretful; easily vexed or fretted; hard to please; apt to complain; querulous; petulant. Her peevish babe.… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
peevish — index fractious, froward, perverse, petulant, querulous, resentful, restive, sensitive (easily affected) … Law dictionary
peevish — late 14c., peyvesshe perverse, capricious, silly, of uncertain origin, possibly modeled on L. perversus reversed, perverse, pp. of pervertere to turn about (see PERVERT (Cf. pervert)). Meaning cross, fretful first recorded 1520s … Etymology dictionary
peevish — irritable, fractious, snappish, waspish, petulant, pettish, huffy, fretful, querulous Analogous words: captious, carping, caviling, faultfinding, *critical … New Dictionary of Synonyms
peevish — [adj] irritable, testy acrimonious, angry, bad tempered, cantankerous, captious, carping, caviling, childish, churlish, complaining, crabbed*, cranky, critical, cross, crotchety*, crusty*, cussed, fault finding, fractious, fretful, fretting,… … New thesaurus
peevish — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ irritable. DERIVATIVES peevishly adverb peevishness noun. ORIGIN originally in the sense «foolish, mad, spiteful»: of unknown origin … English terms dictionary
peevish — [pē′vish] adj. [ME pevische < ?] 1. hard to please; irritable; fretful; cross 2. showing ill humor or impatience, as a glance or remark peevishly adv. peevishness n … English World dictionary
peevish — peevishly, adv. peevishness, n. /pee vish/, adj. 1. cross, querulous, or fretful, as from vexation or discontent: a peevish youngster. 2. showing annoyance, irritation, or bad mood: a peevish reply; a peevish frown. 3. perverse or obstinate.… … Universalium
peevish — [[t]pi͟ːvɪʃ[/t]] ADJ GRADED Someone who is peevish is bad tempered. Aubrey had slept little and that always made him peevish... She glared down at me with a peevish expression on her face. Syn: bad tempered Derived words: peevishly ADV GRADED ADV … English dictionary
peevish — adj. irritable peevish about * * * [ piːvɪʃ] [ irritable ] peevish about … Combinatory dictionary
peevish — adjective Etymology: Middle English pevish spiteful Date: circa 1530 1. querulous in temperament or mood ; fretful 2. perversely obstinate < a peevish child > 3. marked by ill temper • peevishly adverb • peevishness … New Collegiate Dictionary
