whippersnapper

[ hwip-er-snap-er, wip- ]
See synonyms for whippersnapper on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an unimportant but offensively presumptuous person, especially a young one.

Origin of whippersnapper

1
1665–75; probably blend of earlier whipster and snippersnapper, similar in sense; see whip, snap, -er1

Words Nearby whippersnapper

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use whippersnapper in a sentence

  • He had not been eating much lately—he had better get that little whippersnapper who attended Holly to give him a tonic.

    Five Tales | John Galsworthy
  • What any decent, respectable, hard-working man would do,—bring back the girl and horsewhip that whippersnapper.

    Green Valley | Katharine Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for whippersnapper

whippersnapper

/ (ˈwɪpəˌsnæpə) /


noun
  1. an insignificant but pretentious or cheeky person, often a young one: Also called: whipster

Origin of whippersnapper

1
C17: probably from whipsnapper a person who snaps whips, influenced by earlier snippersnapper, of obscure origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012