How to Use whiny in a Sentence

whiny

adjective
  • The league had determined that fans thought players were too whiny.
    — Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2024
  • Kids between 2 and 3 may become clingy and whiny, and some can even regress.
    — Anna Halkidis, Parents, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Your whiny neighbor may take the form of a yowling cat, for example.
    — Jennifer King Lindley, Health.com, 2 Dec. 2021
  • But, as Cole became successful, his raps grew myopic and a bit whiny.
    — Sheldon Pearce, The New Yorker, 18 May 2021
  • Roads could be busy, delays could be frequent, and kids will absolutely be whiny.
    — Jessica Hullinger, The Week, 22 June 2021
  • Over the coming decades, drillers are poised to become even more whiny and reactionary than ever.
    — Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Yes, Dawson was whiny and moody and extremely self-centered, but so are a lot of teenagers.
    — Los Angeles Times, 12 Feb. 2026
  • And for Luis, Julio is a whiny pain in the ass who just might pester him into getting his life back on track.
    — Time, 28 July 2023
  • What kind of man, several wondered, would marry a dumb, whiny, shrill feminist like this?
    — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 2 Mar. 2021
  • The star takes a whiny victim role and turns it into a master class in reactive comic acting.
    — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Sep. 2023
  • But the show was awfully unkind to Steve, who seemed whiny, confused and enfeebled.
    — Tom Gliatto, PEOPLE.com, 3 Feb. 2022
  • His breath control is lacking, his Lin-Manuel-esque flow is whiny, and the lyrics have nothing to do with the moment.
    — Emma Soren, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2024
  • Sarah is an excessively whiny character whose dishonesty is off-putting.
    — Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026
  • But knowing that somehow makes Anakin a little less mythical and a little more like me as a whiny kid after a long day at the shore.
    — EW.com, 27 Jan. 2023
  • This person had more than a year to prepare for the move, but didn’t plan ahead for many of the tasks and now is overwhelmed, needy, whiny and complaining constantly.
    — Jeanne Phillips, The Mercury News, 1 Mar. 2024
  • The result pierced the torpor and discontent of the last year and put an end to all those whiny questions about whether fashion really matters any more.
    — New York Times, 10 July 2021
  • Chatterjee, a box-office favourite, was stripped of all his charm and cast as a whiny old writer and alcoholic who routinely pisses his pants.
    — Hazlitt, 12 July 2023
  • Heathcliff acts like a whiny little baby throughout this film, constantly throwing tantrums, running away, and slamming doors.
    — Cazzie David, Vogue, 6 Feb. 2026
  • My favorite whiny Instagram comment?
    — Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 27 Jan. 2026
  • Parents are probably paying for your whiny students to attend your pricey university.
    — Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 21 Feb. 2023
  • The long-term teacher can’t pretend to care about his whiny students anymore and uses a seemingly routine parent’s complaint as an excuse to get canned.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 11 Oct. 2024
  • Jack is doing a really annoying voice in it — high and shaking and whiny with a weird, almost Police-like inflection.
    — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 29 Mar. 2024
  • Their victories have worked like chlorine in the whiny conservative swamp that was Orange County.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2024
  • Archers were stumbling titans who blended the anthemic and the personal, the perfectly collapsing riff and the whiny complaint.
    — Joe Gross, Rolling Stone, 20 Oct. 2022
  • Expanding the playoffs is the right thing to do and has nothing to do with appeasing the whiny Big Ten and Pac-12.
    — Tom D'angelo, USA TODAY, 24 Dec. 2020
  • Regarding the whiny editorial about Jewel-Osco coupons, just what’s the big deal?
    — Chicago Tribune, 28 Feb. 2026
  • Your very opinionated, independent and annoyed tween will flop on the couch next to you and want to cuddle after a long day or will become whiny and needy at seemingly strange times.
    — Meghan Leahy, Washington Post, 20 Dec. 2023
  • The choice to portray her as irritating, self-absorbed, whiny and inappropriate was no accident.
    — Leigh Blickley, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Mar. 2026
  • The choice to portray her as irritating, self-absorbed, whiny and inappropriate was no accident.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 12 Mar. 2026
  • And the loud-and-clear message is that so many years making so much money with unbridled power has made Ferentz soft, whiny and ultimately ineffective.
    — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 27 Oct. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whiny.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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