Whelpy

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Like or relating to a whelp (cub or puppy).

    "A small, whelpy moan escaped from her, embarrassing her."

  2. 2
    Festering or having welts or wheals; attery, purulent.

    "[…] 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 […]"

Example

More examples

"A small, whelpy moan escaped from her, embarrassing her."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From whelp + -y.

Etymology 2

Origin uncertain. Perhaps an alteration of welt + -y; or from dialectal English whelpy meaning "sour, rancid".

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.