bellyaching

verb

present participle of bellyache
as in complaining
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely tired of the kids bellyaching every time they're asked to mow the lawn or take out the trash

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bellyaching But, in this cycle, what could catapult the issue from a topic of chronic bellyaching to an actual mechanism for changing votes is the gloomy economic climate. — Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2026 All year long, there’s been a lot of bellyaching over the creative liberties that Christopher Nolan (The Odyssey), Zach Cregger (Resident Evil) and the Lanterns team took with their respective adaptations. — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026 Public bellyaching sessions — sorry, hearings — have already begun, and the next ones will be held on May 2, 4, and 28. — Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 30 Apr. 2026 The phrase on the front led the group to burst into a bellyaching laughter. — Kansas City Star, 24 Mar. 2026 So stop the bleating and bellyaching over Bronzeville. — Colleen Kujawa, Chicago Tribune, 18 Mar. 2026 But alas, developers Game Freak have opted to improve the aesthetics just enough to skirt online bellyaching rather than making any attempt to wow fans. — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 24 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bellyaching
  1. complaining
  2. screaming
  3. whining
  4. moaning
Verb
  • By July, morale among immigration officers had dipped below its nadir during the Biden Administration, with agents now complaining of being overextended, inundated with novice recruits, and undermined by inflammatory rhetoric from on high.
    — Francisco Cantú, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Some 35,000 plaintiffs were compensated after complaining of personal injury and property damage to their homes.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of complaining
Verb
  • Young and the Panthers couldn’t capitalize on the iconic opportunity, though, and ultimately fell to the screaming green-and-gold parishioners, 27-19.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Still, the very idea of such a thing freezes my brain, locking it into a mental feedback loop that’s the equivalent of running around in a tight circle flapping my arms wildly and screaming.
    — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of screaming
Verb
  • Just thank God you were born female and stop whining over your bad choices.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 2 Nov. 2026
  • While the left spent all week whining about Sophie Cunningham's hat and firing squad best practices, us PATRIOTS were biding our time, keeping our heads down, and grinding towards another weekend.
    — Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of whining
Verb
  • It's been a big few months for Austin Abrams moaning and groaning his way through some of the worst situations imaginable.
    — Megan McCluskey, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
  • For a cold moment the silence locked a grip on our table, though it was broken, at the edges, by the golf commentators moaning and harrumphing, Rory McIlroy having had a canary on a seventeenth fairway somewhere this championship Sunday.
    — Kevin Barry, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of moaning

Browse Nearby Words

bellyaches
bellyaching
belly flop
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bellyaching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bellyaching. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.

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