Example sentences:

Ramayana: Dasharatha knew that his favorite queen, Kaikeyi, could sometimes be petulant but he never suspected that she might tear his family apart.

Mahabharata:  As Bhima heard Draupadi complain about Kichaka’s dealings with her, he recognized that she was not being petulant; she was in real danger of being molested by Kichaka.

Bhagavad-gita: Whenever our mind becomes petulant, we need to deal with it the way a parent deals with a child — sometimes with a mother’s gentleness and sometimes a father’s firmness.