crybaby
Americannoun
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a person, especially a child, who cries readily for very little reason.
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a person who complains too much, usually in a whining manner.
verb (used without object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of crybaby
Explanation
A crybaby is someone who cries very easily and complains a lot. If you have a younger sister, you've probably called her a crybaby from time to time. You might be tempted to call someone whose feelings are very easily hurt, who is extremely sensitive and quick to burst into tears, a crybaby. It's a fairly derogatory term, however, and being called a crybaby will only make a crybaby cry even harder. The word dates from around 1850, and it's native to the United States, from the idea that someone "cries like a baby."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Musk himself is the biggest crybaby of all, telling the Washington Post, "People were burning Teslas. Why would you do that? That’s really uncool."
From Salon • May 30, 2025
The Angels’ injuries have made the season difficult enough without a manager acting like a crybaby every time a call doesn’t go his way.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 5, 2023
“This letter is so pathetic in terms of whining: Mr. Free Speech Absolutist, just a crybaby hiding behind his lawyers,” O’Dowd said in an interview.
From Washington Post • Aug. 25, 2022
“This letter is so pathetic in terms of whining: Mr. Free Speech Absolutist, just a crybaby hiding behind his lawyers,” Mr. O’Dowd told The Washington Post.
From Washington Times • Aug. 25, 2022
He’s a big crybaby and will go running to Mama, so I smile sweetly instead.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
