pettishly

pettishly

English

Etymology

pettish +‎ -ly

Adverb

pettishly (comparative more pettishly, superlative most pettishly)

1. In a pettish manner; peevishly.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 21345056, page 9:

     Lady Mary turned pettishly away; no woman likes anybody but herself to depreciate a lover; it is personally an ill compliment.

   • 1895, S. R. Crockett, A Cry Across the Black Water

     "You are very dull this morning, Sheriff," said the youngest daughter of the house, who, being the baby and pretty, had grown pettishly privileged in speech.

   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:

     `Why did you keep me standing there in the cold?' he asked pettishly.

   • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney: Ure Smith, published 1965, page 118:

     [S]he complained pettishly of the heat and the flies and at length of the walk, and reduced Robert to the antics of an obsequious dog.