Peevish

Definition: Peevish

Peevish

Adjective

1. Easily irritated or annoyed; "an incorrigibly fractious young man"; "not the least nettlesome of his countrymen".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "peevish" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1120. (references)

Etymology: Peevish \Pee"vish\, adjective. [from Old English expression pevische; of uncertain origin, perhaps from word imitative of the noise made by fretful children -ish.]. (Websters 1913)

Synonyms: Peevish

Discourtesy

Taint, sour, crabbed, sharp, short, trenchant, sarcastic, biting, doggish, caustic, virulent, bitter, acrimonious, venomous, contumelious; snarling; Verb: surly, surly as a bear; perverse; grim, sullen; a; peevish; (irascible).

Irascibility

Cross, cross as crabs, cross as two sticks, cross as a cat, cross as a dog, cross as the tongs; fractious, peevish, acari_tre. in a bad temper; sulky; a; angry. resentful, resentive; vindictive.

Sullenness

Peevish; (irascible).

Crosswords: Peevish

Books

• Godly and Righteous, Peevish and Perverse: Clergy and Religious in Literature and Letters (reference)

• Peevish Advice (reference)

• Peevish Penguin (reference)

  (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

But not peevish.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expression using "peevish": cranky fractious irritable peevish peckish pettish petulant testy tetchy techy. Additional references.

Albanian

zemërak (choleric, cross, grumpy, ornery, peppery, petulant, quick tempered, techy, tetchy, waspish), qaraman (Carper, crier, crybaby, grouser, grumbler, maudlin, nagging, pettish, plaintive, querulous, weeper), idhnak (grumpy, liverish, ornery, petulant, querulous, quick tempered, sorehead, testy, vixenish, waspish), grindavec (arguer, cantankerous, captious, caviller, contentious, crab, crank, croaker, disputant, fractious, fretful, ill tempered, noisy person, pettish, quarrelsome, spitfire, wrangler), grindës (pettish, quarrelsome), gërnjar (bitchy, carping, finical, finicking, finicky, finikin, fussy, grouch, grouchy, grouse, grouser, grumbler, nag, nagger, nagging, pettish, petulant, quarrelsome, shrewish, termagant, wrangler). (various references)

Arabic 

‏نكد (chafe, distemper, fractious, grouchiness, moodiness, moody, pettish, petulant, querulous, somber, sombre, splenetic, sulk, sullen, testy, vex, vinegar), ‏حاد الطبع (hot-headed, irritable, lively, peppery, quick tempered), ‏عنيد (adamant, asinine, contrary, coriaceous, die hard, dogged, dour, fractious, hardheaded, headstrong, heady, implacable, incorrigible, inelastic, inexorable, inflexible, intractable, intransigent, inveterate, irreconcilable, mulish, nagging, obdurate, obstinate, opinionated, ornery, persevering, pertinacious, perverse, piggish, pigheaded, refractory, rigid, scabrous, scratchy, self willed, stiff, stiff necked, stout, stubborn, sullen, tenacious, thwart, uncompromising, unruly, unwilling, unyielding, wilful, willful, wrongheaded). (various references)

Bulgarian 

сърдит (angry, cross, gruff, high, huffish, huffy, irate, ireful, ratty, red-necked, resentful, rusty, snappish, sour, stroppy, sullen), раздразнителен (bad tempered, chippy, choleric, edgy, excitable, explosive, fretful, gingery, ill, ill tempered, ill-conditioned, irascible, irritable, liverish, livery, nervous, nervy, pettish, petulant, prickly, querulous, raspy, ratty, snappish, stroppy, techy, tetchy, touchy, vinegary), недоволен (disaffected, discontent, discontented, disgruntled, dissatisfied, ill-affected, malcontent, murmurous, non-content, querulous, uncontented), заядлив (argumentative, bellicose, captious, carping, combative, contradictious, contradictory, currish, doggish, mordant, nagging, provoking, spleenful, troublesome, vixenish), избухлив (explosive, fiery, hot, inflammable, irritable, passionate, plosive, quick tempered, short tempered, violent, volatile), докачлив (miffy, susceptible, touchy, umbrageous). (various references)

Czech

podráždìný (edgy, fretful, fussy, grumpy, resentful, uptight, waspish), rozmrzelý (disgruntled, resentful, upset, vexed), mrzutý (annoying, awkward, bad tempered, chuff, crabbed, cranky, cross, crusty, dumpish, frumpish, glum, grouchy, joyless, Moody, out of temper, pettish, rugged, sulky, sullen, surly, testy, untoward, vexatious). (various references)

Dutch

slechtgehumeurd (cross, morose, pettish, petulant), kregel (cross, morose, pettish, petulant), balorig (cross, morose, pettish, petulant). (various references)

Esperanto

moroza (fretful, morose, sullen), malbonhumora (cross, pettish, petulant). (various references)

Faeroese

múlatrútin (dismal, fretful, morose, sullen), í ringum skørum (fretful, morose, sullen). (various references)

Farsi 

پست (Abacinate, Abject, Cheap, Common, Currish, Despicable, Earthborn, Humble, Infamous, Inferior, Lily, Little, Mail, Menial, Poor, Runty, Ungenerous, Venal, Vile, Villain, Villainous, Vulgar, Wretch, Wretched), ناراضی (Malcontent, Tedious), کج خلق (Crab, Irritable, Morose, Petulant, Querulous, Snappish, Sullen, Techy, Tedious, Testy), تندمزاج (Hot, Irritable), زودرنج (Miff, Petulant, Querulous, Techy, Testy, Touchy, Umbrageous), عبوس (Grim, Lower, Moody, Morose, Rusty, Stern, Sulky, Sullen). (various references)

Finnish

kärtyinen (cross, petulant), ärtyisä (fretful, irritable, petulant, touchy), ärtyinen (fretful, irritable, petulant, touchy). (various references)

French

maussade (pettish, petulant). (various references)

German

verdrossen (Moody, morose, querulous, reluctant, sullen, unwilling), verdrießlich (boring, glum, irksome, morose, morosely, peevishly, sour, sourly, splenetic, stodgy, sullen, surlily, tiresome). (various references)

Greek 

ευερέθιστοσ (edgy, excitable, fretter, passionate, petulant, prickly, testy, touchy, waspish), δύστροποσ (bloody minded, cantankerous, captious, crabbed, cranky, cross, fretful, grouch, illtempered, morose, pettish, recalcitrant, shrewish, splenetic, splenish, sullen, surly, testy, untoward, vixenish, waspish, wayward). (various references)

Hebrew 

עצב� י (edgy, fidgety, fretful, in a stew, irritable, jerky, jumpy, liverish, nervous, short, snappish, testy, uptight), כעס� י (irascible). (various references)

Hungarian

szeszélyes (be capricious, capricious, changeful, erratic, fanciful, fickle, fitful, freakish, have a little finger ache, have moods, kinky, maggoty, mercurial, moody, petulant, skittish, wanton, whimsical), nyûgös (grouchy), ingerlékeny (be irritated, bilious, excitable, fractious, fretful, grumpy, highly strung, hot tempered, hot-tempered, ill tempered, inflammable, irascible, irritable, like a bear with a sore head, nervous, nettlesome, neurotic, peppery, perverse, petulant, prickly, techy, testy, tetchy). (various references)

Indonesian

kesal (annoyed, cross, dejected, fed up, piqued), jengkel (annoyed). (various references)

Italian

permaloso (prickly, sensitive, snappish, thin-skinned, ticklish, touchy), stizzoso (irascible, testy), scontroso (grumpy, morose, stroppy, sullen, surly). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

憤る (to be angry, to be enraged, to be fretful, to be indignant, to be peevish, to fret, to resent), 拗ねる (to be peevish, to pout, to sulk). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

すねる (to be peevish, to pout, to sulk), むずかる (to be fretful, to be peevish, to fret). (various references)

Manx

granganagh (cantankerous, captious, cattish, catty, churlish, crabbed, crabbed of person, crabby, cross, cross annoyed, cynical, disagreeable, fractious, fretful, grumpy, ill-humoured, ill-natured, ill-tempered, niggly person, snappy), gonnagh (aching, painful, smart, sore), froutagh, correydank (bad-tempered, crotchety, cussed). (various references)

Pig Latin

eevishpay

Portuguese

zangado (angry, cross, crossly, fracture, hot, huffy, waxy), teimoso (ambivalent, balky, die hard, Dogger, hard-mouthed, headstrong, mulish, obstinate, opium, pertinacity, pigheaded, recalcitrant, refractory, self willed, stiff necked, strongwilled, stubborn, tough, tumbler, uncompromising, unmanageable, unwilling, wayward, wilful, willful, wrong-headed), rabugento (acrimonious, atrabilious, brutal, criss cross, crusty, currish, faultless, fiddle-faddle, fractious, fretfulness, frustrate, Grove, gruff, harsh, Moody, morose, pettish, querulous, rough, shrewish, snuffy, sour, sullen, surly, techy, testy, tetchy, unkind, unpleasant), obstinado (ambivalent, balky, contumacious, die hard, dogged, dour, hard-mouthed, headstrong, mulish, non-ductile, obdurate, obstinate, pertinacious, recalcitrant, refractory, self willed, stiff necked, stolid, stubborn, tenacious, unredeemed, unyielding, wilful, willful, wrong-headed), irritadiço (brittle, cantankerous, choleric, pettish, prickly, short tempered, sore, splenetic, vinegary), entediado (bored), enfastiado, caprichoso (arbitrary, cantankerous, caprice, capricious, crotchety, difficult, extravagant, faddy, fanciful, fitful, freakish, Kittle, maggoty, notional, skittish, temperamental, tidy, viewy, wayward, whim, whimsical). (various references)

Romanian

ursuz (churlish, crabbed, crabby, crusty, gnarled, grumbler, grumbling, grumpy, morose, somber, sombre, sulky, sullen, sullenly, surly), supãrãcios (cantankerous, cross-grained, huffish, huffy, humoursome, irascible, irritable, liveried, pettish, scrupulous, short tempered, sour, testy, tetchy, touchy), morocãnos (adust, crabbed, cross-grained, crusty, grouty, gruff, grumbling, grumbly, grumpish, grumpy, ill tempered, morose, morosely, snuffy, sour, sulky, sullen, surly, tetchy), mofturos (dainty, demure, fastidious, finical, finicking, fractious, Froward, humoursome, naughty, nice, particular, perverse, picky, qualmish, squeamish), iritat (edgy, irate, magged, Moody, peeved, peevishly, rasping, resentful), certãreţ (brawler, cantankerous, captious, discordant, eristic, factious, frumpish, pugnacious, quarrelsome, snappy), capricios (arbitrary, capricious, cranky, crotchety, difficult, fanciful, fancy, fantastic, fantastical, fickle, fitful, fractious, freakish, frolic, Froward, humoursome, perverse, vagarious, wanton, wayward, whimsical, whimsy), cãtrãnit (angry, black, downcast, embittered, furious, jaw-fallen, sulky, tar-colored, tar-coloured, Tarry), arţãgos (cantankerous, contradictious, crabbed, cross-grained, crusty, currish, fractious, gruff, pettish, quarrelsome, snappy), acru (acerb, acetous, acid, acidulous, acre, acrid, acrimonious, crabbed, cross, green, sharp, sour, sourly, sulky, surly, tart, testy, touchy, unripe, vinegarish). (various references)

Russian 

раздражительный (apoplectic, bad tempered, bad-tempered, chippy, choleric, crab, crabbed, crabby, criss cross, crusty, doggish, fractious, fretful, grouty, grumpy, huffish, huffy, irascible, irritable, livery, ornery, pettish, petulant, quick tempered, quicktempered, rambunctious, rusty, short tempered, snappish, snooty, snuffy, spleenful, splenetic, testy, touchy), капризный (arbitrary, capricious, crotchety, difficile, flighty, fractious, freakish, fretful, huffish, moody, prankish, temperamental, vagarious, wayward, whimsical), брюзгливый (acidulated, crabby, cranky, grouchy, querulous). (various references)

Scottish

dreamach, crosda (fretful, ill-natured, perverse). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

zlovoljan (bad tempered, ill tempered, ill-humored, morose, nasty, peeved, sullen). (various references)

Spanish

malhumorado (bad tempered, bilious, cantankerous, crabbed, crabby, cross, disagreeable, disgruntled, fractious, glum, grouchy, grumpy, ill tempered, ill-humored, ill-humoured, low-spirited, moody, morose, mumpish, pettish, petulant, splenetic, sulky, sullen, surly). (various references)

Swedish

vresig (crabbed, cross, cross-grained, crotchety, crusty, disagreeable, grouchy, gruff, grumpy, ill-humored, ill-humoured, morose, perverse, ratty, sulky, vinegary), retlig (crabbed, fretful, fretting, ill tempered, irritable, moody, pettish, snappy, snuffy, testy, touchy, waspish), gnatig av sig (fretful). (various references)

Turkish

titiz (careful, choosy, cleanly, critical, dainty, demanding, difficult, exact, exacting, exigent, fastidious, finical, finicking, finicky, fussy, hypercritical, jealous, jealous of, meticulous, niggling, niminy-piminy, particular, pernickety, picky, rigorous, scrupulous, squeamish, touchy), lanet (bleeding, curse, cuss, damn, damnation, execration, imprecation, imprecatory, malediction, malison, murrain, reprobation, swearword), huysuz (acrimonious, as cross as two sticks, bad tempered, bilious, cantankerous, churlish, crabbed, crabby, crank, cranky, cross-grained, crosspatch, crotchety, crusty, cursed, difficult, disagreeable, disgruntled, doggish, farouche, fractious, fretful, gnarled, grouchy, gruff, grumbling, grumpy, ill natured, ill tempered, ill-humored, ill-humoured, liverish, mean, Moody, out of humour, out of sorts, peeved, peppery, perverse, pettish, petulant, prickly, quarrelsome, querulous, ratty, rusty, shirty, snappish, spleenful, spleenish, splenetic, stroppy, sulky, surly, tetchy, thrawn, ugly, untoward, vicious, vixenish, waspish, wildcat, wrongheaded), hırçın (acrimonious, cantankerous, combative, gruff, ill tempered, irritable, peeved, pettish, pugnacious, shrewish, sour, tetchy, vinegary, vixenish), aksi (adverse, awkward, bad tempered, bilious, bloody minded, cantankerous, contra, contra-, contrary, counter, crabbed, crabby, cross, cross-grained, crosspatch, crotchety, doggish, dour, evil, fractious, fretful, Froward, gruff, ill natured, ill tempered, ill-humored, ill-humoured, inverse, negatory, opposite, perverse, petulant, recalcitrant, refractory, reverse, shirty, snappish, snuffy, spleenful, spleenish, stroppy, stubborn, sullen, surly, tart, testy, unfavorable, unfavourable, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky, untoward, wrongheaded). (various references)

Ukranian 

сварливий (angular, cantankerous, contentious, currish, doggish, frumpish, grumpy, ill tempered, ill-conditioned, pugnacious, quarreling, quarrelling, quarrelsome, shrewish, termagant, ugly), незлагідний. (various references)

Vietnamese 

hay dằn dỗi (petulant), hay cáu (brittle, chippy, choleric, grouty, short-tempered, waxy), hay c� u nh� u (crabbed), cáu kỉnh (bed, crossly, edgy, fretful, grouchy, huffish, querulous, savage, surly). (various references)

Welsh

swnllyd (querulous), gwenwynllyd (jealous), blin (arduous, irritable, tired, weary), anynad (brawling, petulant), anniddig (fretful, irritable). (various references)

acediaberis, acedieris, morosus. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "peevish": peevishly, peevishness, peevishnesses. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Peevish" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: eeikish, peerish, peevi, peevis, Peveit, pevish, piedish, preevish, Reivich. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-2 letters: hives, peise, sheep, shive, sieve, veeps.

-3 letters: eves, hies, hips, hive, pees, pehs, phis, pies, pish, seep, ship, shiv, sipe, spiv, veep, vees, vies, vise.

-4 letters: eve, hep, hes, hie, hip, his, pee, peh, pes, phi, pie, pis, psi, see, sei, she, sip, vee, vie, vis.

-5 letters: eh, es, he, hi, is, pe, pi.

+2 letters: peevishly.

+3 letters: viewership.

+4 letters: herpesvirus, hypotensive, peevishness, videophiles, videophones, viewerships.

+5 letters: apprehensive, hyperactives, hypertensive, hypotensives, impoverished, impoverisher, impoverishes, overemphasis, receivership, reprehensive, venographies.

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