peeved
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of peeved
Explanation
When you're peeved, you're extremely annoyed or irritated. If you eat the donut that your sister was saving for later, she's going to be so peeved! The adjective peeved comes from an older one, peevish, which originally meant "silly," and later came to mean "cross or fretful." You've probably heard of "pet peeves," those particular annoyances that drive you crazy? Peeved is how you feel when faced with such annoyances, like tiny rocks in your shoe as you walk to school, terrible music in a restaurant, or a bad referee call against your favorite basketball team.
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.
One former official recalls a departing prime minister being peeved there was an "office spruce-up", with walls being freshly painted for their replacement about to arrive.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Apple’s AI missteps, including a botched rollout of a smarter version of the Siri voice assistant, peeved investors last year.
From MarketWatch ● May 8, 2026
“It sounds like a competitor’s just peeved that they’re losing market share,” Kershner said, “and maybe they’re grasping at straws.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
With Laurie still peeved about Jaclyn’s sleepover with Valentin, the hotel worker the actor had been encouraging Laurie to pursue, the women’s dinner turns into a sharing circle of underhanded observations about each other.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025
“Ignore them, Patty,” consoled her friend, shooting the boys a peeved look.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
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.
