Definitions

peevish

[pee-vish] / ˈpi vɪʃ /

ADJECTIVE

irritable, testy

Synonyms

WEAK

acrimonious angry bad-tempered cantankerous captious carping caviling childish churlish complaining crabbed cranky critical cross crotchety crusty cussed fault-finding fractious fretful fretting grouchy grousing growling grumpy huffy ill-natured mean morose obstinate ogre ornery out-of-sorts pertinacious petulant querulous short-tempered snappy splenetic sulky sullen surly tetchy touchy ugly waspish waspy whining

Antonyms

WEAK

accepting friendly happy pleasant

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Titus hands power to Saturninus, the eldest son of the late Roman emperor, played with a comic spin as a peevish dilettante by Matthew Amendt.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Placing his Howard in a pen with Short's jumpy, cheerfully peevish Oliver is perfect.

From Salon • Aug. 16, 2023

The pilot opens with a peevish Hank trying to ignore that he learned his dad was retiring via a celebratory newspaper article on the front page of the arts section.

From Washington Post • Mar. 18, 2023

It can be viewed today on YouTube; I challenge anyone, no matter how grumbly or peevish, to watch it without laughing out loud.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 30, 2022

Now it was he who was on the receiving end of peevish sarcasm.

From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen

Vocabulary lists containing peevish

100 Words to Make You Sound Smart

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Even More Negative Words to Describe a Person

Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!

Curmudgeon, Cantankerous and Churlish: Grouchy Words

Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!