peeve

1 of 2

verb

ˈpēv 

peeved; peeving

transitive verb

: to make peevish or resentful : annoy

peeve

2 of 2

noun

1

: a feeling or mood of resentment

2

: a particular grievance or source of aggravation

Synonyms

Verb

• annoy
• bug
• bother
• irritate
• persecute

Noun

• headache
• nuisance
• thorn
• frustration
• problem
• worry
• annoyance
• irritant
• bugbear
• inconvenience

Choose the Right Synonym for peeve

irritate, exasperate, nettle, provoke, rile, peeve mean to excite a feeling of anger or annoyance.

irritate implies an often gradual arousing of angry feelings that may range from mere impatience to rage.

constant nagging that irritated me greatly

exasperate suggests galling annoyance and the arousing of extreme impatience.

his exasperating habit of putting off needed decisions

nettle suggests a sharp but passing annoyance or stinging.

your pompous attitude nettled several people

provoke implies an arousing of strong annoyance that may excite to action.

remarks made solely to provoke her

rile implies inducing an angry or resentful agitation.

the new work schedules riled the employees

peeve suggests arousing fretful often petty or querulous irritation.

a toddler peeved at being refused a cookie

Examples of peeve in a Sentence

Verb

she is constantly peeved by his habit of humming show tunes while she is trying to focus on her work

Noun

One of her peeves is people who are always late.

my main peeve with the animal welfare organization is the endless stream of unsolicited trinkets in my mailbox

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

When Walker hit a homer before Wyatt, the older brother was peeved. —Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 15 June 2025

White was especially peeved by Lucy Olsen’s 3-pointer late in the third quarter when the Fever technically had enough players tracking back, but none closed out to Olsen on the perimeter. —Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 29 May 2025

Noun

Among his litany of peeves is that, because arXiv has seen a surge in submissions in recent times, especially in the AI category, the number of low-quality papers has followed a similar curve—and arXiv has nowhere near enough volunteers to vet them all. —Sheon Han, Wired News, 27 Mar. 2025

The recent columns about viewers’ TV peeves have generated a lot of mail, including this letter. —Rich Heldenfels, Boston Herald, 22 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

back-formation from peevish

First Known Use

Verb

1901, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1909, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing peeve

• pet peeve

Rhymes for peeve

• breve
• cleave
• cleeve
• cleve
• eave
• eve
• grieve
• heave
• leave
• lieve
• neve
• reeve

Kids Definition

peeve

1 of 2 verb

ˈpēv 

peeved; peeving

: to make irritable or resentful : annoy, irritate

peeve

2 of 2 noun

1

: a feeling or mood of resentment

2

: something one finds annoying

a pet peeve