whiny
Americanadjective
adjective
-
high-pitched and plaintive
-
peevish; complaining
Usage
What does whiny mean? Whiny is an adjective describing someone who is complaining in an annoying way, especially in a high-pitched tone of voice. To whine is to moan or make a high-pitched cry, or to say something in such a way. It also means to complain, especially by talking in such a way. Whiny is always used negatively to criticize such behavior. It can be used to describe a person or their words or actions. It is also spelled whiney. Example: People might help you with your problems if you weren’t so whiny about them.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of whiny
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.
See Examples For:
Bill Plaschke’s column criticizing Caitlin Clark as a whiny, entitled player who constantly complains to officials and her coach would be laughable if not so hypocritical.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026
How do you advocate for yourself without coming across as whiny or dragging a coworker into the conversation when they probably never intended to reveal their salary?
From MarketWatch ● May 20, 2026
And Ms. Millonzi wisely avoids turning Roderigo into an overly whiny and dim dupe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
And we are asked to see the "vulnerable" as a small number of whiny people on death’s door anyway.
From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2025
The kid had snot running down his face and was crying in a whiny, tired way.
From "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin
He's even whinier than Trump and has a tendency to react to human contact like most people do to dog poop.
From Salon ● May 25, 2023
Roman compares their whole argument to when they were kids, when Kendall would play the sober-minded big brother in order to get chicken for dinner, while the whinier Roman wanted steak.
From New York Times ● May 14, 2023
The teacher said some of her own students misbehave whether parents are present or not and sometimes act whinier when parents are present during a virtual lesson.
From Fox News ● Dec. 1, 2020
Does there exist anywhere a whinier, more petulant, more entitled gang of businesses than California's big utility companies?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2018
I ask, definitely a little whinier than I’m proud of, but hey.
From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone
Randall Eliason, a law professor at George Washington University and former federal prosecutor, suggested the defense arguments were without merit, posting on X: “I think this is the whiniest pleading I've ever read.”
From Salon ● May 28, 2024
Also, even at 14 years old, K is one of the whiniest children I know when he doesn’t get what he wants.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2021
Most over-optimistic newspaper Over at Super Deporte, the shoutiest, whiniest and silliest of all the sports dailies, they never let you down.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 6, 2016
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.
