kvell

K5V4E1L1L1
UK, US/kvɛl/

verb

To feel delighted and proud; to boast; to gloat.

OriginYiddish קוועלן ← Middle High German quellen ← Old High German quellan →
Scrabble 12
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbkvell (third-person singular simple present kvells, present participle kvelling, simple past and past participle kvelled)

present singular third person kvells · participle present kvelling · participle past kvelled · past kvelled

  1. USambitransitiveslangTo feel delighted and proud; to boast; to gloat.

    ‘Magnificent residence,’ she pretended to kvell, ‘maybe I'm in the wrong business?’

    2013, Thomas Pynchon, Bleeding Edge, Vintage, published 2014, page 4

Origin

  1. Proto-West Germanic*kwellan
  2. Old High Germanquellan
  3. Middle High Germanquellen
  4. Yiddishקוועלן
  5. Englishkvell

From Yiddish קוועלן (kveln), from Middle High German quellen, from Old High German quellan, from Proto-West Germanic *kwellan. Cognate with German quellen and English quell (“source, spring”).

More words from Yiddish, Middle High German, Old High German

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with kvell

wellhotellsellcelltelleldelpersonneldellNFLshellfellexcelMichellegeldlmotelspellsmellrebelbellemelmichel
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

kvell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kvell

MLA

“kvell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kvell. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kvell,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kvell.

Source: kvell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.