moaning Minnie

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

moaning Minnie

Where it comes from

Possibly from the French name Minié (for a soft lead bullet) or the German Minenwerfer, a type of trench mortar (WW I allusions), or simply because of the alliteration of the name with the participial adjective; see Martin, Gary (28 November 2022), “Moaning Minnie”, in Phrases.org.UK, retrieved 29 Nov 2022.

noun moaning Minnies

slang A person who moans; a peevish complainer. Don't you think that's the way to persuade more companies to come to this region and get more jobs—because I want them—for the people who are unemployed? Not always standing there as moaning minnies. Now stop it!
historical, slang An air raid siren.
historical, slang A noisy rocket artillery piece (after 1944, the German Nebelwerfer).
Similar: screaming meemie

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"moaning Minnie." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/moaning%20minnie. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

moaning Minnie. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/moaning%20minnie

Chicago

"moaning Minnie." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/moaning%20minnie.

BibTeX

@misc{moaning_minnie_2026,
  title = {moaning Minnie},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/moaning%20minnie},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}