pet peeve

American

[pet peev] / ˈpɛt ˈpiv /

noun

a particular and often continual annoyance; personal bugbear.

This train service is one of my pet peeves.

pet peeve Idioms

A particular or recurring source of irritation, as in My pet peeve is that neighbor's cat running through my herb garden. [Early 1900s]

Etymology

Origin of pet peeve

An Americanism dating back to 1915–20

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.

“I have a pet peeve about mental-health narratives in a lot of movies,” says Shear.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026

He says he believes the system has improved access to university for disadvantaged students, and that it's a "pet peeve" to hear discussions of it being a "crippling loan", or like a mortgage.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026

I don’t know if that’s a pet peeve, it’s a genuine fear.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025

“It’s a pet peeve with many people,” he told me.

From Slate • Mar. 6, 2025

The fact that many prescriptive rules are worth keeping does not mean that every pet peeve, bit of grammatical folklore, or dimly remembered lesson from Miss Thistlebottom’s classroom is worth keeping.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023