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

He said BuzzBallz have "have no recovery route in the current system" and "is a huge pet peeve for our customers and us".

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2026

Ping [email protected] with the word or phrase, and why it’s your pet peeve, and we might circle back and include it in a future story.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026

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

From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2025

This is how I find out that Miss McDaniels has yet another pet peeve besides lateness, wasting valuable time, and utter nonsense.

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina