kvetch

[kvech]Slang.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR kvetch ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to complain, especially chronically.

noun

Also kvetch·er. a person who kvetches.

Origin of kvetch

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for kvetch

moan, squawk, nag, carp, grumble, mutter, murmur, fuss, groan, gripe, bellyache, grouse, whine, yawp, crab, grouch, yammer, pule, scold, snivel

Examples from the Web for kvetch

Contemporary Examples of kvetch

I take some pleasure in watching conservatives squirm and kvetch.
Not Harry Reid's Finest Hour
Michael Tomasky
August 3, 2012

British Dictionary definitions for kvetch

kvetch

verb

(intr) slang, mainly US to complain or grumble, esp incessantly

Word Origin for kvetch

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

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

Word Origin and History for kvetch

"to complain, whine," 1953 (implied in kvetching), from Yiddish kvetshn, literally "squeeze, press," from German quetsche "crusher, presser." As a noun, from 1936 as a term of abuse for a person.