Sooks

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who displays excessive sensitivity or vulnerability, often complaining or whining in a manner that seeks sympathy from others
2. Someone who tends to indulge in self-pity or emotional fragility, often seeking comfort or attention through their grievances
3. An individual characterized by a tendency to express discomfort or distress in an exaggerated way, often appealing for support and understanding from those around them

Etymology: The Australian and New Zealand "sook" for a crybaby or sulker is probably a dialect survival of "suck", the same verb that gives us the act of drawing milk. Old English "sūcan" meant "to suck", and in dialect speech "suck" was also used for a child who was still at the breast or who acted like a baby, which may explain how the idea of an oversensitive, whining person grew out of it. Several related English forms point the same way: a nineteenth-century British slang "sock" meant an "overgrown baby", and a British dialect "suckerel" meant a suckling foal or unweaned child. The noun is recorded in the early twentieth century, with the form "sook" attested from 1906 in Scottish use, and a version of the word appears with the sense "crybaby" as early as 1933 in Canadian English. Other suggestions, such as a link to the Arabic "sūq" meaning "market", have been put forward, but the "suck" explanation is the one the evidence best supports.

Synonyms: crybabies, whiners, snivelers, softies, wimps