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PlainSpell

whine

/ˈwaɪ̯n/noun, verb

whine is spelled W-H-I-N-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,101st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “whine vs wine” about 140 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, whine means “A long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of whine is whines.

How many letters and syllables are in whine?

Letters5: W-H-I-N-E
Syllables1
In writing1.9 times per million words; the 20,101st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is whine?

Whine appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,101st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce whine?

  • /ˈwaɪ̯n/
  • [ˈwaɪ̯n]
  • /ˈʍaɪ̯n/

Whine has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-whine.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with whine

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

whine vs wine140 G

Sounds like: wine (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of whine

  • whines plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • whining participle, present
  • whined participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does whine mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound.

  2. 2

    A peevish or self-pitying complaint or criticism.

    I need to have a quick whine about my boss before we start talking about the holiday.

verb

  1. 1

    To utter a high-pitched cry.

  2. 2

    To make a sound resembling such a cry.

    The jet engines whined at take off.

  3. 3

    To complain or protest with a whine (compare whinge) or as if with a whine, i.e. in a peevish or self-pitying way.

    Feel awfully about Scott... I always knew he couldn't think–he never could–but he had a marvelous talent and the thing is to use it–not whine in public.

  4. 4

    To move with a whining sound.

    The jet whined into the air.

  5. 5

    To utter with the sound of a whine.

    The child whined all his complaints.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Whine in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpleurnicherie, geignement (long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or…), couiner (to utter a whine), pleurnicher, geindre, chouiner (to complain or protest with a whine or as if…)
GermanJaulen, Heulen, Jammern, Gejammer (long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or…), jaulen, heulen (to utter a whine)
Portugueseganido (long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or…), ganir (to utter a whine), lamuriar (to complain or protest with a whine or as if…)
Spanishgimoteo, lloriqueo (long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or…), gimotear, lloriquear, llorisquear, mañosear (to utter a whine)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does whine come from?

From Middle English whynen, hwinen, whinen, from Old English hwīnan (“to rush, to whizz, to squeal, to whine”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwīnan, from Proto-Germanic *hwīnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwey- (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”). Cognate with Old Norse hvína, whence Icelandic hvína, Norwegian Nynorsk kvina, Swedish vina, and Danish hvine. Despite the strong similarity in sound and meaning, not related with German weinen, Dutch wenen, from Proto-Germanic *wainōną (for which see dialectal English ween (“to weep, lament”)).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after whine