kvetch

[ kvech ]

verb (used without object)

1. to complain, especially chronically.

noun

1. Also kvetcher. a person who kvetches.

kvetch

/ kvɛtʃ /

verb

1. slang.
   intr to complain or grumble, esp incessantly

Word History and Origins

Origin of kvetch¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of kvetch¹

C20: from Yiddish kvetshn, literally: to squeeze, press

Example Sentences

Three is either a charm or a curse – depending on your point of view – and there are plenty of people gloating or kvetching today.

From Salon

“People, and particularly women, tend to kvetch and converse and complain about what offends them, and then they vote according to what affects them,” she said.

From BBC

It’s a screeching, sputtering display of kvetching that builds runaway comic momentum.

From New York Times

Then in the final year of the decade, that changed, and a glut of anxious men arrived, kvetching, quipping and dating shiksas.

From New York Times

Edelman is struck — and perhaps a little soothed — by the amount of kvetching in the room.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• carp
• grumble
• moan
• murmur
• mutter
• nag
• squawk