whiney


Also found in: Thesaurus.
Related to whiney: Whitney

whine

 (wīn, hwīn)
v. whined, whin·ing, whines
v.intr.
1. To produce a sustained, high-pitched, plaintive sound, as in pain, fear, or complaint.
2. To complain or protest in a childish or annoying fashion: fans who are always whining about the poor officiating.
3. To produce a sustained noise of high pitch: jet engines whining.
v.tr.
To utter with a whine.
n.
1. The act of whining: the dog's whine for food.
2. A whining sound: the whine of the dentist's drill.
3. A complaint uttered in a sustained, high-pitched tone: decided to ignore the children's whines.

[Middle English whinen, from Old English hwīnan, to make a whizzing sound.]

whin′er n.
whin′ing·ly adv.
whin′y, whin′ey adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.whiney - habitually complaining; "a whiny child"
complaining, complaintive - expressing pain or dissatisfaction of resentment; "a complaining boss"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
She settled her head on the pillow several times, to show her little airs and graces, and struck up her usual whiney sing-song before slumber.
Bing is sweet but occasionally whiney. Flop is interminably patient and would never hide in the bathroom eating crisps.
She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting from Oklahoma State University.<br />After she graduated from OSU, Byford joined Ernst and Whiney, where she was assigned to the audit staff.
"It's 2018, and as you may have heard, objectifying women and portraying them as dumb, whiney, and just downright clueless doesn't go unnoticed anymore.
We're not sure how long this situation can go on for but Andy is becoming a bit whiney (imagine) and Phelan is seriously considering introducing him to the business end of a shovel.
We went for an early evening disco nap, after a day of walking up steep hills and exploring cobbled back streets without whiney children who have decided they can't move in a forward direction on their legs for a moment longer.
Without being maudlin, or whiney regarding their lives they portray the determination we could all take a lesson from; play the hand dealt to ya without a lot of folderol.
I was like, "Who is this kid?" He was so whiney and so sponsored since he was born.
He also believes that Filipinos are preferred by multinationals because they are 'less whiney,' more flexible and efficient.
Once the magic you'll be a lot Particularly when they add one of those teethgrating whiney tones, too.
And when someone I want to like starts dropping gun terms popularized on the silver screen to sensationalize events, I put hands to my face and begin leaking a whiney shrill of disappointment while melting to the floor like Oz's Wicked Witch of the West.
His parents are the kind of miserable dullards you'd avoid at a party, his brother Peter is a whiney creep and, even accounting for the fact that I'm glad he's not mine, you could at least imagine Henry growing up to be the kind of bloke who'd I'm be a laugh in the pub.