querulous
adjective
Did you know?
English speakers have called fretful whiners querulous since late medieval times. The Middle English form of the word, querelose, was an adaptation of the Latin adjective, querulus, which in turn evolved from the Latin verb queri, meaning "to complain." Queri is also an ancestor of the English words quarrel and quarrelsome, but it isn't an ancestor of the noun query, meaning "question." No need to complain that we're being coy; we're happy to let you know that query descends from the Latin verb quaerere, meaning "to ask."
Examples of querulous in a Sentence
Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 29 Feb. 2024
Instead, Gerwig and Baumbach promote querulous sloganeering.
—Armond White, National Review, 19 July 2023
The most salutary change was Kelsey, who turned from Rigoletto to Amonasro, and who gave his trademark smoky tone and aura of threat to a role that, earlier in the month, George Gagnidze had rendered merely tight and querulous.
—Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 11 Jan. 2023
One came across as a quiet, reserved, eloquent, thoughtful force of nature; the other as a boisterous, querulous, troublemaking and sometimes thoughtless and mean force of nature.
—Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2022
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Dictionary Entries Near querulous
Cite this Entry
“Querulous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/querulous. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
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querulous
adjective
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