Merriam-Webster Word of the Day - Querulous

to me

WORD OF THE DAY April 27, 2018

Definition 1 : habitually complaining 2 : fretful, whining Scroll down for more about querulous  TRENDING NOW: pansexual symbiote charlatan lowlife SEE ALL  PEOPLE ARE READING 'Rather Than': Is It a Conjunction or Preposition? ‘Magnate’ and ‘Magnet’: Poles Apart All the Hits The Fossil Encased in "Case In Point" WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE April 2018 Words of the Day Quiz The rhyming verb edition.   PLAY NOW   Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try!  TAKE ME THERE   Did You Know? English speakers have tagged fearful whiners querulous since late medieval times. The Middle English form of the word, querelose, was an adaptation of the Latin adjective, querulus, which in turn evolved from the Latin verb queri, meaning "to complain." Queri is also an ancestor of the English words quarrel and quarrelsome, but it isn't an ancestor of the noun query (meaning "question"). No need to complain that we're being coy; we're happy to let you know that query descends from the Latin verb quaerere, meaning "to ask." Examples of QUERULOUS "… the punch of her performance lies in its sheer nerve; even though her character has our sympathy from the start, she keeps asking for more, tugging at us like a querulous child until our patience cracks." — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 24 July 2017 "And while ordinarily, he was not one who was inclined to be querulous, still now on occasion, he could be. He began by asking questions concerning his wife's appearance—irritating little whys which are so trivial and yet so exasperating and discouraging to a woman." — Theodore Dreiser, The Financier, 1912 Name That Synonym Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of querulous: p _ e _ is _. VIEW THE ANSWER   MERCH New Words, New Gear! Featuring our newly added words welp and wordie! CHECK OUT OUR SELECTION  MORE WORD FUN: WORD GAMES TRENDING NOW WORDS AT PLAY FOLLOW US: