petulantly.

In an irritable, impatient way that seems childish or unreasonably complaining.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• complain petulantly
• reply petulantly

On the page

He complained petulantly that no one had saved him a seat.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Invariable adverb. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: character, description. Commonness: moderately common.