kvetch
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of kvetch
1960–65, < Yiddish kvetshn literally, to squeeze, pinch; compare Middle High German, German quetschen
Explanation
To kvetch is to grumble and complain at length. Kids who kvetch for days about never having gone to Disney World are unlikely to convince their parents to take them. When you kvetch, you whine or grumble or bellyache about something. It's an informal way to describe a very annoying activity, and you can also call the complaint itself a kvetch, as well as the person doing the complaining. In fact, this is the original Yiddish meaning, from kvetshn, "squeeze" or "press," which has a German root, quetsche, or "crusher."
Vocabulary lists containing kvetch
English Words Derived from Yiddish
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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.
“They signed on to extensive letters and virtue-signaling criticism. They held ‘unhappy hours’ at the building where most of them worked, to kvetch about the changes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
“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 • Sep. 7, 2024
It’s easy to kvetch about wearing long underwear to watch Little League games or donning a down jacket to work in the garden.
From Seattle Times • May 10, 2022
On what planet, industry insiders railed, does a Golden Globe-nominated TV writer kvetch — in print! — about the snubbing of a competing show?
From Washington Post • Aug. 2, 2021
“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 "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
