A.Word.A.Day --kvetch

A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact

Home

Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

kvetch

PRONUNCIATION:

(kvech)

MEANING:

verb intr.: To complain habitually, whine; gripe.
noun: 1. A chronic complainer. 2. A complaint.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Yiddish kvetshn (squeeze, pinch, complain), from Middle High German quetschen (to squeeze). First recorded use: 1964.

USAGE:

"Perhaps one should emphasize here that V.S. Naipaul has gone out of his way, from time to time and far beyond the call of duty, to burnish his reputation as a cantankerous curmudgeon -- truly the Evelyn Waugh of our age, right down to his squirearchal residence in the west of England -- or even as a bigoted old barroom kvetch. Not long ago Naipaul anathematized Tony Blair as a 'pirate' at the head of 'a socialist revolution'."
Geoffrey Wheatcroft; A Terrifying Honesty; The Atlantic Monthly (Boston); Feb 2002.

See more usage examples of kvetch in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Elitism is the slur directed at merit by mediocrity. -Sydney J. Harris, journalist (1917-1986)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise