Querulousness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state or quality of expressing complaints or being habitually dissatisfied
2. A temperament characterized by frequent complaining or showing irritation about minor issues
3. The condition of being prone to grumble or express discontent in a persistent and whining manner

Etymology: Querulousness is a plain formation: the adjective "querulous" with the suffix "-ness," which turns an adjective into a noun for a state or quality. The adjective itself comes from the Latin "querulus," meaning complaining or full of lament, built on the verb "queri," to complain. The word thus carries the sense of a habit of complaint from its very first English use. The suffix "-ness" has a much longer pedigree than the adjective it attaches to. It descends from Old English "-nes" and before that from Proto-Germanic forms, so English speakers have been turning adjectives into abstract nouns for well over a thousand years. Its use with a Latin-derived adjective like "querulous" shows how readily the native suffix was absorbed into a vocabulary borrowed from Latin and French.

Synonyms: complaining, grumbling