Synonyms

kvetch

American

[kvech] / kvɛtʃ /

verb (used without object)

to complain, especially chronically.

noun

Also kvetcher. a person who kvetches.

kvetch British

/ kvɛtʃ /

verb

slang (intr) to complain or grumble, esp incessantly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of kvetch

1960–65, < Yiddish kvetshn literally, to squeeze, pinch; compare Middle High German, German quetschen

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I don’t know what kvetch means, but I think it must be good.

From Literature

“No, but I had to listen to him kvetch for a solid twenty minutes before he surrendered them. If there’s one thing that man knows, it’s how to lecture people.”

From Literature

“This Sarah Ross. I like her stories. She likes to kvetch without complaining too much.”

From Literature

She may be 86, move more gingerly these days and kvetch about her aches and pains, but make no mistake: Renée Taylor’s still got it.

From Los Angeles Times

Now we all kvetch about it on Twitter.

From Washington Post

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023