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
  • Though Trump is backing away from Putin in public, he’s never specifically projected anger about the paused weapons for Ukraine.
    Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 9 July 2025
  • Music and song have changed the world in positive, enduring ways that fear, anger, and violence never have.
    Chris John Amorosino, Hartford Courant, 8 July 2025
Noun
  • Claiming persecution becomes more believable when it is coupled with the righteous indignation of the wronged.
    Lubna Zeidan, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
  • Some Trump allies have expressed skepticism — and at times outright indignation — at the idea of the U.S. involved in another conflict in the Middle East, while others have offered wholehearted support.
    Alex Gangitano, The Hill, 18 June 2025
Noun
  • Having a catastrophic season in 2024 with 8-9 as opposed to the 11-6 record in 2023 is something that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross might take umbrage with.
    James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 July 2025
  • 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
Noun
  • Clark voiced her frustration that one of her teammates wasn’t spending enough time in the gym.
    Elise Devlin, New York Times, 10 July 2025
  • Just ask Paige Spiranac, former LPGA hopeful turned golf influencer, who recently took it to X to voice her frustration.
    Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
Noun
  • From exasperation and anguish to elation and relief.
    Chris Waugh, New York Times, 11 July 2025
  • At times, the testimony skidded toward animosity, exasperation and anger over the 205-bed shelter at 4306 W. State St., at a former Salvation Army location that abuts homes in the Veterans Park neighborhood.
    Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 8 July 2025
Noun
  • If, in a usual presidency, tariffs are debated by layers of experts and aides, their potential impact weighed with care, in the Trump White House the determinations are part whim, part weave, part pique.
    David E. Sanger, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2025
  • 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

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Cite this Entry

“Dudgeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dudgeon. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.

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