from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Petulance \Pet"u*lance\, Petulancy \Pet"u*lan*cy\, n. [L.
petulania: cf. F. p['e]tulance. See {Petulant}.]
The quality or state of being petulant; temporary
peevishness; pettishness; capricious ill humor. "The
petulancy of our words." --B. Jonson.
[1913 Webster]
Like pride in some, and like petulance in others.
--Clarendon.
[1913 Webster]
The lowering eye, the petulance, the frown. --Cowper.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: {Petulance}, {Peevishness}. -- Peevishness implies the
permanence of a sour, fretful temper; petulance implies
temporary or capricious irritation.
[1913 Webster]