querulous
/ˈkwɛɹ(j)ʊləs/adjective
querulous is spelled Q-U-E-R-U-L-O-U-S: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 25 million words in written English, the 150,355th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, querulous means “Often complaining; suggesting a complaint in expression; fretful, whining” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in querulous?
| Letters | 9: Q-U-E-R-U-L-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 25 million words; the 150,355th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is querulous?
Querulous appears about once in every 25 million words in written English, the 150,355th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce querulous?
- UK /ˈkwɛɹ(j)ʊləs/
- /ˈkwɛɹ(j)ələs/
- /ˈkwiːɹ(j)ələs/
Querulous has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-querulous.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of querulous
- more querulous comparative
- most querulous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does querulous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Often complaining; suggesting a complaint in expression; fretful, whining.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Querulous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense often complaining:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | nörglerisch, quengelig |
| Portuguese | quérulo, queixoso, reclamão |
| Spanish | quejoso, quejicoso, quejumbroso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does querulous come from?
From Old French querelos, from Late Latin querulōsus, from Latin querulus, from queror (“to complain”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).