as in irritable
easily irritated or annoyed
I would rather figure things out on my own than ask that peevish librarian for help
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Recent Examples of peevish
The childishness of his expressions infantilized a genuinely vicious regime, painting it as more peevish than petrifying.
—
Fintan O’Toole,
The New York Review of Books,
9 Apr. 2026
Thousands of people — displaced by disaster, their past lives gone up in smoke — are hostage to the whims of a peevish president who always puts his feelings first and cares nothing for the greater good.
—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Los Angeles Times,
22 June 2025
Rojas’s recollections weren’t peevish—fine work was produced under these conditions.
—
Ian Parker,
The New Yorker,
20 Jan. 2025
The songs are muscular and syncretic as ever, but the normally peevish rapper doesn’t maintain his trolling energy for the full record, settling into a questioning and pensive pace.
—
Stephen Kearse,
TIME,
8 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for peevish
Fintan O’Toole,
The New York Review of Books,
9 Apr. 2026
Thousands of people — displaced by disaster, their past lives gone up in smoke — are hostage to the whims of a peevish president who always puts his feelings first and cares nothing for the greater good.
—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Los Angeles Times,
22 June 2025
Rojas’s recollections weren’t peevish—fine work was produced under these conditions.
—
Ian Parker,
The New Yorker,
20 Jan. 2025
The songs are muscular and syncretic as ever, but the normally peevish rapper doesn’t maintain his trolling energy for the full record, settling into a questioning and pensive pace.
—
Stephen Kearse,
TIME,
8 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for peevish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peevish
irritable
Adjective
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The symptoms are so delayed that people often blame them on food poisoning, irritable-bowel syndrome, gluten intolerance.
-
Cancer could be affectionate and chatty one moment, and withdrawn and irritable the next, with little to no explanation.
Cite this Entry
“Peevish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peevish. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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