Meanings
whelpy1
comparative whelpier · comparative more whelpy · superlative whelpiest · superlative most whelpy
- Like or relating to a whelp (cub or puppy).
A small, whelpy moan escaped from her, embarrassing her.
2015, Celine Keating, Play for Me1 more example
I was so nervous as I tried to hand-feed him, mixing up his whelpy drink, which has all the nutrients he would get from his mum if he were still nursing, and then trying him on slushy solid foods.
2017, Andrea Hayes, Dog Tales
whelpy2
comparative whelpier · comparative more whelpy · superlative whelpiest · superlative most whelpy
- Festering or having welts or wheals; attery, purulent.
A little whelpy. No big deal.” “Makeup will cover it up, right?”
2012, Jenny B. Jones, A Charmed Life, page 5214 more examples
[…] the way from his breakfast room to Grandmomma's back door but as silverware and a garden spade and whelpy bee bites had not figured into his speculations […]
1988, T. R. Pearson, The Last of how it was, page 48Stunning, worst comes to worst Springer'll bind off his whelpy first draft that way.
1999, David Markson, Springer's Progress, page 212Mac is really feeling no pain, but she is lethargic and naps a couple of times a day. Also, she has a bright red, whelpy-looking rash on her upper chest around her neck. I'm going to get her some Benadryl cream, right now!
2007, John Breed, Bethany Breed Martin, Mac a Book of Hope, page 29[…] In a letter marked January 29, 1640, Descartes debated the reality of this post-rabies-whelpy-discharge, […]
2020, Leslie C. Dunn, Performing Disability in Early Modern English Drama, page 174
Origin
whelpy · adjective
Origin uncertain. Perhaps an alteration of welt + -y; or from dialectal English whelpy meaning "sour, rancid".
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
whelpy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whelpy
“whelpy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whelpy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “whelpy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whelpy.
Source: whelpy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.