pet peeve
Other forms: pet peeves
A pet peeve is a particular thing that bugs you every time. If your pet peeve is how people misuse words, you’re in the right place.
A peeve is an annoyance, and a pet peeve is an annoyance that’s nurtured like a pet — it's something someone can never resist complaining about. There are all kinds of pet peeves, like littering, misusing punctuation, driving slowly in the fast lane, or talking during movies. If something like that drives you crazy and you have to yap about it, it's a pet peeve. Pet peeves tend to be smaller issues. No one would call terrorism a pet peeve.
Definitions of pet peeve
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an opportunity for complaint that is seldom missed“grammatical mistakes are his pet peeve”
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type of:
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complaint
an expression of grievance or resentment
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complaint
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Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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