1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

whiner

noun

Definition of whinernext
1
as in complainer
a person who makes frequent complaints usually about little things don't be a whiner—the hike's not that difficult

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in crab
an irritable and complaining person among the hospital staff the patient in 504 had acquired a reputation for being a whiner

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 whiner There are no bigger whiners in the league than LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Deandre Ayton, who have in their minds never committed a foul and are always fouled with no call on any possession. — Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2026 Continue reading … DAVID MARCUS – Patriotic Team USA wins gold as anti-America whiners flop. — FOXNews.com, 24 Feb. 2026 Never mind the man himself, who, anyway, emerges as something of a whiner and malcontent. — Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 31 Oct. 2025 No one likes a draft-day whiner. — Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 17 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whiner
  1. complainer
  2. crab
  3. baby
  4. bear
  5. crybaby
  6. crank
Noun
  • My ‘Deborah Vance Show senior writer’ persona was kind of a rude complainer with an incipient alcohol problem.
    — Merrill Markoe, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Are they deluded into thinking that the complainers are just a squeaky wheel minority and the majority of fans are happy with it?
    — Jeremy Rutherford, New York Times, 13 July 2026
Definition of complainer
Noun
  • Spicy tuna and crab mix was held in the temperature danger zone almost at ambient temperature.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 11 Sep. 2026
  • They are found from Cape Cod to Florida and eat fish, smaller sharks, octopus, squid, eels, rays, shrimp and crab.
    — Neal Riley, CBS News, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of crab
Noun
  • According to the report, 290 babies in Arkansas died before their first birthday in 2023.
    — Jada Robison, Arkansas Online, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Missing from the team for the first time since 2011 is big-hitting Lexi Thompson, who no longer plays a full schedule and is expecting her first baby early next year.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of baby
Noun
  • In Gold Hill, Sullivan's brother-in-law solved the bear-in-Toyota problem by tugging a rope tied to a door handle.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Bringing lions, elephants, bears or crocodiles to Rome from the furthest reaches of the Empire was a way of displaying the extent of the world Rome had conquered.
    — Roberto Prieto, Variety, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of bear
Noun
  • The financier Carl Icahn, Ackman’s longtime nemesis and business rival, famously denounced him as a self-righteous crybaby.
    — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 20 July 2026
  • As children, Keaton often dismissed her younger brother as a crybaby, scaredy cat and a nuisance who was coddled by their mother.
    — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 26 Dec. 2025
Definition of crybaby
Noun
  • In the ever more precarious world of academia, the neck of the principled luddite crank might be particularly attractive when institutions swing the axe in the next round of layoffs.
    — Dónal Gill, The Dial, 8 Sep. 2026
  • In 2022, a group calling itself the America First SOS Coalition endorsed a slate of cranks and quacks who ran for secretary of state in 14 states, including the presidential battlegrounds of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of crank

Browse Nearby Words

whined
whiner
whiners
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Whiner.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whiner. Accessed 15 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of quorum

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All