crybaby

C2+ Topic:People & Society

Also spelled cry-baby

US /ˈkraɪˌbeɪbi/ UK /ˈkraɪˌbeɪbi/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a person who cries or complains too readily over trifles

Don't be such a crybaby over a scraped knee.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who cries or... whinercomplainersnivelergrumblerwhimperer

Opposites

stoic

Word family

Related forms cry baby

Etymology

A transparent compound of 'cry' (from Old French 'crier', from Latin 'quirītāre', 'to wail') + 'baby' (a reduplicative nursery word).

crier Old French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# crybaby

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkraɪˌbeɪbi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkraɪˌbeɪbi/

## Meanings
1. a person who cries or complains too readily over trifles

## Examples
- Don't be such a crybaby over a scraped knee.

## Synonyms
- whiner
- complainer
- sniveler
- grumbler
- whimperer

## Antonyms
- stoic

## Related Forms
- cry
- baby

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: crier

## Etymology
A transparent compound of 'cry' (from Old French 'crier', from Latin 'quirītāre', 'to wail') + 'baby' (a reduplicative nursery word).

## AI Etymology
Crybaby is a transparent compound of 'cry' (from Old French 'crier', from Latin 'quirītāre', 'to wail') + 'baby' (a reduplicative nursery word). The immediate etymological form is Old French crier. In present use as a noun, it means "a person who cries or complains too readily over trifles", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. As a compound, its meaning is assembled from the two visible parts rather than from an opaque borrowing. Related words include cry and baby. Its contrast set includes stoic, which clarifies the semantic boundary of the modern word.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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