dudgeon

Synonym Chooser

How is the word dudgeon distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of dudgeon are huff, offense, pique, resentment, and umbrage. While all these words mean "an emotional response to or an emotional state resulting from a slight or indignity," dudgeon suggests an angry fit of indignation.

stormed out of the meeting in high dudgeon

When would huff be a good substitute for dudgeon?

The words huff and dudgeon are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, huff implies a peevish short-lived spell of anger usually at a petty cause.

in a huff he slammed the door

When could offense be used to replace dudgeon?

Although the words offense and dudgeon have much in common, offense implies hurt displeasure.

takes deep offense at racial slurs

When is it sensible to use pique instead of dudgeon?

The synonyms pique and dudgeon are sometimes interchangeable, but pique applies to a transient feeling of wounded vanity.

in a pique I foolishly declined the invitation

Where would resentment be a reasonable alternative to dudgeon?

The words resentment and dudgeon can be used in similar contexts, but resentment suggests lasting indignation or ill will.

harbored a lifelong resentment of his brother

In what contexts can umbrage take the place of dudgeon?

The meanings of umbrage and dudgeon largely overlap; however, umbrage may suggest hurt pride, resentment, or suspicion of another's motives.

took umbrage at the offer of advice

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 dudgeon Beck is in a state of high dudgeon, because there’s a big shipment due and two of his drivers are AWOL. Chris Klimek, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025 Close’s game, canny performance of reliving her own past couldn’t quite obscure the ungainliness of some of Webber’s songs, the dudgeon and occasional monotony of the sung-through score, or the strain of trying to generate plot friction in a story with only four major characters. Daniel D'addario, Variety, 21 Oct. 2024 But the movement is flummoxed now that its style of one-way dialogue and high-dudgeon shaming is provoking sharp backlash from illiberal strongmen, right-wing populists, and the mass constituencies that support these strongmen around the globe. Jack Snyder, Foreign Affairs, 21 July 2022 Beck is in a state of high dudgeon, because there’s a big shipment due and two of his drivers are AWOL. Chris Klimek, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025 Instead, the high dudgeon now heard in Tennant’s fey voice gives too much weight to the smugness of group-thinkers. Armond White, National Review, 18 Sep. 2024 Truth Social, meanwhile, is its own, strange creature: a social media platform born out of Donald Trump’s dudgeon at being banned from Facebook and Twitter due to his posts on those platforms. Samanth Subramanian, Quartz, 23 Mar. 2024 But some Angelenos took their picket signs and their dudgeon to City Hall. Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2023 Dederer is at her best on such complicities—her own fondness for assholes, our cultural fascination with monsters—and less convincing when in a dudgeon, or deploying her feelings and experiences as intellectual credentials. Laura Kipnis, The New Republic, 5 May 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dudgeon
Noun
  • Getty Images To date, the post has amassed more than 900 comments from TikTok viewers, many of them poking fun at the golden retriever mother's annoyed expression and shallow huffs.
    Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 June 2025
  • The chute opens, and rambunctious No. 2 bursts out with an impatient huff.
    Phillip Valys, Sun Sentinel, 15 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • The anger of voters is strikingly clear, though, especially for ones who have for so long been loyal to Democrats.
    Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2025
  • He’s allowed to feel the frustration and anger at them.
    Eric Thomas, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 June 2025
Noun
  • Daley huffed and puffed with red-faced indignation, even threatening a lawsuit over the intent of an NFL team to whisk Chicago’s proud name off to the northwest suburbs and stomp into suburban soil.
    The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 22 May 2025
  • The Austrian government responded with indignation, claiming that the Americans had given them no notice.
    Henry Leutwyler Robert Petkoff Emma Kehlbeck Quinton Kamara, New York Times, 20 May 2025
Noun
  • Clearly, there are those who are taking umbrage with Marvel releasing a series that is based around the new-age Iron Man.
    James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025
  • Pages had taken umbrage with getting hit in Monday’s series opener then had four hits with two home runs in Tuesday’s game, when Shohei Ohtani was hit by a pitch after the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. was plunked.
    Doug Padilla, Oc Register, 18 June 2025
Noun
  • The briefings were initially planned for earlier in the week but were postponed, to the frustration of the delegation.
    Lisa Hagen, Hartford Courant, 28 June 2025
  • San Francisco tied it in the top of the third inning when Wilmer Flores, a day removed from his frustrations against Miami, pulled a double down the left-field line that allowed Bailey to score.
    Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 27 June 2025
Noun
  • Genevieve O’Reilly’s frantic performance hides her exasperation in her dance moves, while close-ups both isolate her from the surrounding wedding guests and enhance the feeling of claustrophobia.
    Rafael Motamayor, Vulture, 23 June 2025
  • In Detroit, underperforming stars and teams are usually met with empty stands, uncomfortable silences, light grumbles – at most, loud sighs of exasperation.
    Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 19 June 2025
Noun
  • But his pique has also come as the league’s media infrastructure, nationally and locally, has undergone a great reshuffling, and as MSG Networks, another Dolan-run company, has come under duress.
    Mike Vorkunov, The Athletic, 25 Mar. 2025
  • One reason for this is Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s pique at the way the Biden administration has treated him.
    Martin Indyk, Foreign Affairs, 14 Feb. 2022

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Cite this Entry

“Dudgeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dudgeon. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.

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