petulance

noun

Etymology: From Middle French pétulance, and its source, Latin petulantia.

1. Rudeness, insolence.

   “[W]ise men knew, that that, which looked like pride in some, and like petulance in others, would, by experience in affairs, and conversation amongst men, both of which most of them wanted, be in time wrought off […]”

2. An insolent remark or act.

   “I believe I was guilty of a petulance, which nothing but my uneasy situation can excuse; if that can.”

3. Childish impatience or sulkiness; testiness.

   “She […] had shown herself angry and sore, and was now ashamed of her own petulance, and yet unable to discontinue it.”