kvetch

English

Alternative forms

• kvitch

Etymology

From Yiddish קוועטשן (kvetshn, literally “to squeeze, pinch”), from Middle High German quetschen (“crush, press”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US, Canada) IPA^(key): /kvɛt͡ʃ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛtʃ

Verb

kvetch (third-person singular simple present kvetches, present participle kvetching, simple past and past participle kvetched)

1. To whine or complain, often needlessly and incessantly.
   • 1969, Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint:

     Is this truth I’m delivering up, or is it just plain kvetching? Or is kvetching for people like me a form of truth?

   • 2001, Glen David Gold, Carter Beats the Devil:

     Make a commitment, Charlie. Go with life or go with death, but quit the kvetching. Don’t keep us all in suspense.

   • 2016 May 11, Catherine Shoard, quoting Woody Allen, “Woody Allen at Cannes: artistic competition 'against common sense'”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 23 March 2017:

     Celebrities often kvetch about the lack of privacy and being bothered by paparazzi, but these are not life-threatening problems and they get enormous advantage as they go through life.

   • 2025 August 21, Robert Ito, “The Makers of ‘BoJack Horseman’ Take Family Matters by the Reins”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 August 2025:

     “Long Story Short,” a new animated series from Raphael Bob-Waksberg with art by Lisa Hanawalt, trades the talking animals for kvetching humans.

Derived terms

• kvetcher (noun)
• kvetchy

Translations

whine or complain, often needlessly and incessantly

• Dutch: kankeren (nl) (mildly offensive)
• Finnish: marista (fi), nurista (fi)
• French: se plaindre (fr), râler (fr)
• German: nörgeln (de), mäkeln (de)
• Icelandic: kveina
• Ladino: kesharse, ser un keshador, ser una keshadora
• Russian: ныть (ru) (nytʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: čangrizati (sh), njurgati (sh), njorgati

• Swedish: klaga (sv), kvida (sv), beklaga (sv), oja (sv)
• Yiddish: קוועטשן (kvetshn), האָבן טענות (hobn taynes)

See also

• carping
• cavil
• nitpick
• split hairs

Noun

kvetch (plural kvetches)

1. A person who endlessly whines or complains; a person who finds fault with anything.

   Synonyms: kvetcher, whiner

2. An instance of kvetching; a complaint or whine.

Translations

person who endlessly whines or complains

• Asturian: repunante m or f
• Finnish: marisija (fi), natku, kitisijä
• French: plaintif (fr), râleur (fr)
• Ladino: keshador m, keshadora f
• Portuguese: reclamão m, reclamona f
• Russian: ны́тик (ru) m (nýtik)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: чангрѝзало n, чангрѝзалица m, чангрѝзавац m, њу̏ргало n, њу̏ргавац m, њу̏ргавица f

  Roman: čangrìzalo (sh) n, čangrìzalica (sh) m, čangrìzavac (sh) m, njȕrgalo (sh) n, njȕrgavac (sh) m, njȕrgavica (sh) f

• Spanish: gruñón (es)
• Swedish: gnällspik (sv), gnällmåns (sv)
• Tagalog: reklamador
• Yiddish: קוועטשער m (kvetsher)