whinny
Americanverb (used without object)
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whinnies,
present (3rd person singular)
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whinnied,
past participle, past
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whinnying
present participle
verb (used with object)
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whinnies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
whinnied,
past participle, past
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whinnying
present participle
noun
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whinnies
plural
verb
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(of a horse) to neigh softly or gently
-
to make a sound resembling a neigh, such as a laugh
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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whinnysimple
-
whinniessimple
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have whinniedperfect
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has whinniedperfect
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am whinnyingprogressive
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are whinnyingprogressive
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is whinnyingprogressive
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have been whinnyingperfect progressive
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has been whinnyingperfect progressive
Past
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whinniedsimple
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had whinniedperfect
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was whinnyingprogressive
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were whinnyingprogressive
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had been whinnyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of whinny
1520–30; imitative; compare earlier whrinny, Latin hinnīre
Explanation
A cow moos, a dog barks, a rooster crows, and a horse whinnies. Whinny is both a noun and a verb. As a noun, it's the sound a horse makes. As a verb, it's the horse making the sound. A familiar word with the same meaning as whinny is neigh. When you visit your cousins on their farm, the rooster wakes you up every morning with his crowing. The cow moos to let you know she’s ready to be milked. The dog’s barking alerts you that the tractor is coming down the drive. And it’s the horse’s whinny that tells you he’s ready to go for a ride. Every time you hear that whinny, you’ve got to saddle up!
Vocabulary lists containing whinny
Our Town
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The Sea of Monsters
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Black Beauty
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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:
The low frequency portion of the whinny comes from vocal fold vibration, much like a person singing or a cat meowing.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 25, 2026
Nuckels also produced a radio ad with narrator with a western drawl saying “Dirty Dan” was riding off into the sunset as horses whinny in the background.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 6, 2024
My filly’s whinny, timid trill: I’m sitting by this icy rill, In wintry, frigid wild?
From Washington Post ● Nov. 10, 2022
She’s bonded with the horse she’s ridden for nearly two years, saying he’ll whinny every time she walks into the barn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2021
Here Evy would jerk her head high and whinny like a horse.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Yes, he neighs and whinnies and you can ride him and, as Woody notes, he gallops like the wind.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
They also found that Przewalski's horses, a species closely related to domesticated horses, produce whinnies that include biphonation.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 25, 2026
The horses burst into a gallop at the machine's approach, their high-pitched whinnies rising into the dry air.
From Fox News ● Aug. 18, 2021
From a towering gray barn, roosters crow and a horse whinnies.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 10, 2014
Low moos and whinnies from outside, the buzz of gossip, the clatter of heels on the cobblestones.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
"When I actually came to the field at the start he actually whinnied at me. He was crying out for help."
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
And when his feat was thus complete – he’d won the Triple Crown, He heard the brays and whinnied praise for garnering renown.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 5, 2018
Li’l Sebastian Played by: A beautiful angel who has come to Earth in the body of a miniature horse Money quote: Remember that time he whinnied?
From Time ● Jan. 14, 2015
But heretical words were whinnied from inside NBC’s Belmont stable: Battaglia predicted that Wicked Strong would win, and Bob Neumeier correctly picked Tonalist.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2014
One of the black stallions, waking or dreaming, whinnied and snorted, and then rested once more.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
The overall sound is highly dramatic, with massed voices, quaking beats, horses whinnying in the distance, and percussion that evokes the threat of a rattlesnake.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Their baying and whinnying was interrupted every few minutes Saturday night by the piercing roar of engines from a car race on the other side of the fairgrounds.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 11, 2022
Just outside its doors sits Jackson Square, with a statue of Andrew Jackson tipping his hat on a whinnying horse, which I looked out upon every day as a teen-age employee of CC’s Coffee House.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 12, 2019
The forecast was calling for rain the next day, an element as necessary for all this — the flowering plant life, the whinnying animal life — as is the sun.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 29, 2018
His herd stopped, too, as one, whinnying and stamping as he paced back and forth.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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