peevishness

From Middle English pevyshnesse, equivalent to peevish +‎ -ness.

• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpivɪʃnəs/, /-nɪs/

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peevishness (usually uncountable, plural peevishnesses)

1. The state of being peevish.
   • 1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XV, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 332:

     Moreover, it were ungenerous, having bred thee up freakish and fiery, to dismiss thee to want or wandering, for shewing that very peevishness and impatience of discipline which arose from thy too delicate nurture.