pet peeve

American  

[pet peev] / ˈpɛt ˈpiv /

noun

pet peeves plural

1. a particular and often continual annoyance; personal bugbear.

   This train service is one of my pet peeves.

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pet peeve Idioms  

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pet peeves
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pet peeve

An Americanism dating back to 1915–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pet peeve

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2026

It’s a pet peeve of hers when someone is multitasking when she’s trying to talk to them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026

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

From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2025

"It was something that, at first, would always really excite me, but has become increasingly something of a pet peeve," said bookseller and fantasy blogger Bethan Hindmarch, from Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire.

From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2025

Okay, tiny pet peeve: when the girls call me kid.

From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera