variants
or less commonly whiney
whinier; whiniest
: characterized by whining:
a
: having a high-pitched, shrill or plaintive quality
a whiny voice
"So What'cha Want," despite its jittery organ, whiny guitar, and distorted vocals, turned out to be one of the least predictable-sounding hit singles of recent years.—
Alan Light
Alan Light
b
: characterized by or given to complaining
whiny children
Their whiny, even beggarly tone was hardly the supremely confident sound of the American Century.—Sidney Blumenthal
Sidney Blumenthal… offering little more than a whiny list of grievances …—Linda Chavez
Linda ChavezIn this conversational memoir, Nancy comes across as honest, if a little whiny, and a major-league worrier.—Ilene Cooper
Ilene Cooper
whininess
noun
A few years ago, thirtysomething was widely reviled for encouraging the yuppie ethos of materialism and whininess.
—Mark Harris
Mark Harris
… I heard something, a certain whininess in his voice, maybe, that led me to conclude that I wasn't about to get a pasting …
—Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby
Examples of whiny in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
For instance, mid-celebration, a birthday celebrant received a whiny hungry call from her husband, and zap, my bill increased by $100.
—Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 14 Nov. 2023
The star takes a whiny victim role and turns it into a master class in reactive comic acting.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Sep. 2023
This is the period where the development of the idea of the Jewish American Princess comes up, of the American Jewish man as being like nerdy and whiny compared to the strong Israeli.
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 July 2023
Over the coming decades, drillers are poised to become even more whiny and reactionary than ever.
—Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 8 Aug. 2023
And for Luis, Julio is a whiny pain in the ass who just might pester him into getting his life back on track.
—Time, 28 July 2023
Chatterjee, a box-office favourite, was stripped of all his charm and cast as a whiny old writer and alcoholic who routinely pisses his pants.
—Hazlitt, 12 July 2023
Our hero has grown up into a whiny, troublemaking teenager who tends to break rules (like marrying Padmé, now a galactic senator) and generally irritate his Jedi Master, Obi-Wan, who loves him like a pesky younger brother.
—Scottie Andrew, CNN, 4 May 2023
Despite my whiny complaints, the scan was totally worth it.
—Sheila Cosgrove Baylis, Peoplemag, 8 June 2023
See More
Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 14 Nov. 2023
The star takes a whiny victim role and turns it into a master class in reactive comic acting.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Sep. 2023
This is the period where the development of the idea of the Jewish American Princess comes up, of the American Jewish man as being like nerdy and whiny compared to the strong Israeli.
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 July 2023
Over the coming decades, drillers are poised to become even more whiny and reactionary than ever.
—Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 8 Aug. 2023
And for Luis, Julio is a whiny pain in the ass who just might pester him into getting his life back on track.
—Time, 28 July 2023
Chatterjee, a box-office favourite, was stripped of all his charm and cast as a whiny old writer and alcoholic who routinely pisses his pants.
—Hazlitt, 12 July 2023
Our hero has grown up into a whiny, troublemaking teenager who tends to break rules (like marrying Padmé, now a galactic senator) and generally irritate his Jedi Master, Obi-Wan, who loves him like a pesky younger brother.
—Scottie Andrew, CNN, 4 May 2023
Despite my whiny complaints, the scan was totally worth it.
—Sheila Cosgrove Baylis, Peoplemag, 8 June 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whiny.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1746, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near whiny
Cite this Entry
“Whiny.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whiny. Accessed 28 Nov. 2023.
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