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

“Receiving cold calls from friends and family is now a huge pet peeve of mine,” she said.

From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2026

Another pet peeve for many are sketchy cycling lanes in a city where 18 percent of all trips are made by bike.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 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 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

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