Pettish

adj, slang

adj, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Bad-tempered; peevish. informal

    "Indeed I would advise every single lady, if possible, to attend her inamorato, pretty frequently at the card table; and however genteel and agreeable his behaviour should be to herself, if he is hasty or pettish with any one else in company, she may depend on the same fate when once the knot is tied."

Adjective
  1. 1
    easily irritated or annoyed wordnet

Example

More examples

"Indeed I would advise every single lady, if possible, to attend her inamorato, pretty frequently at the card table; and however genteel and agreeable his behaviour should be to herself, if he is hasty or pettish with any one else in company, she may depend on the same fate when once the knot is tied."

Etymology

From pet + -ish.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.