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• wasp
  wasp

  noun

  any of numerous social or solitary hymenopterous insects of the Vespidae, Sphecidae, and allied families, generally having a long, slender body and narrow waist and, in the female, a stinger.
• WASP
  WASP

  noun

  a member of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots, an organization disbanded in 1944.
• Wasp
  Wasp

  acronym

  White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: a person descended from N European, usually Protestant stock, forming a group often considered the most dominant, privileged, and influential in American society

wasp

¹ American  

[wosp] / wɒsp /

noun

• wasps
  plural

1. any of numerous social or solitary hymenopterous insects of the Vespidae, Sphecidae, and allied families, generally having a long, slender body and narrow waist and, in the female, a stinger.

2. a person who is snappish or petulant.

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WASP ² American  

[wosp] / wɒsp /

noun

1. a member of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots, an organization disbanded in 1944.

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WASP ³ American  

[wosp] / wɒsp /

Or Wasp

noun

1. a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant.

2. a member of the privileged, established white upper middle class in the U.S.

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adjective

1. Waspy.

wasp ¹ British  

/ wɒsp /

noun

1. any social hymenopterous insect of the family Vespidae, esp Vespula vulgaris ( common wasp ), typically having a black-and-yellow body and an ovipositor specialized for stinging See also potter wasp hornet

2. any of various solitary hymenopterans, such as the digger wasp and gall wasp

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Wasp ² British  

/ wɒsp /

acronym

1. White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: a person descended from N European, usually Protestant stock, forming a group often considered the most dominant, privileged, and influential in American society

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WASP Cultural  

1. An acronym for “w hite A nglo-S axon P rotestant” — a member of what many consider to be the most privileged and influential group in American society.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• waspiness
  noun
• Waspy
  adjective
• wasplike
  adjective
• waspy
  adjective
• waspily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wasps
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of wasp¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English waspe, Old English wæsp, metathetic variant of wæps, itself variant of wæfs; cognate with Dutch wesp, German Wespe; akin to Latin vespa

Origin of WASP³

First recorded in 1955–60

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Explanation

Wasps are flying insects related to bees and ants. While some wasps can inflict painful stings, if you don't disturb their nest and avoid stepping on or swatting them, you're unlikely to be stung. Yellow jackets and hornets are types of wasps. Like their bee relatives, wasps are important pollinators. They also help control bug populations by feeding smaller bugs (including pests like aphids) to their young. Because wasp stings can hurt a lot, many people fear wasps. But most wasp species do not have stingers that can pierce a person's skin, and only females have stingers at all. Unless you bother them, these buzzing insects will leave you alone. Wasp is related to the Latin word for wasp, vespa.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wasp WASP Wasp wasps

As she spends more time in the house she develops a sense of responsibility for the boy, who seems helplessly marooned in the haunted space, “trapped like a wasp in a glass bottle.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

When researchers dissected the plants, they discovered that a species of predatory wasp was using the hollow chambers for an entirely different purpose.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

Rosemary Winnall, from the Wyre Forest Study Group, which maps the wildlife and ecology of the forest in Worcestershire, said the arrival of the wasp spider was to be celebrated.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

As a wasp biologist, I’ve noticed it acutely, because my students need wasps for their experiments, and we simply can’t find them.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

A wasp goes tap tap tap along the ceiling.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Scraping her savings together, Dybbro took flying lessons at $10 an hour — which equates to about $180 an hour today — to earn the pilot’s license required to apply to be a WASP.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 28, 2022

My mother was an old-line WASP; her ancestry can easily be traced back to 16th-century England, and in some cases further than that.

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2021

In the original novel, Benjamin was a tall, athletic WASP.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2021

“Nobody thinks of me as the ultimate WASP, but I am,” he said.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2015

"Oh," she said, "then we're still safe, Dr. Rohmer. You can tell the taxpayers that the Epiphany Middle School team has one Jew, one half-Jew, a WASP, and an Indian."

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

Snap a photo of her eating and submit your data to the Wasp Picnic Survey 2026: Ham or Jam?.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

Wasp nests typically have rough walls made from chewed plant material and saliva.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026

“The Marvels” was a misfire, and movies including “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” appeared to signal a drop-off in quality.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2025

Shortly after the verdict against Majors, Marvel dropped the “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Loki” star from its future projects.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025

Straight and true sailed the Wasp, with Stuart at the helm.

From "Stuart Little" by E.B. White

If data back this up, their absence worries me greatly because – love them or hate them – wasps are important in ecosystems as pest-controllers, pollinators and decomposers.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

So why are we still seeing “spring-sized” wasps?

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

There’s something else that I’ve noticed: the few wasps I’ve seen are rather small.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

All ants are eusocial, along with honey bees and some wasps.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026

“A little one, that lives in oak trees, and eats wasps and worms and sparrows’ eggs—it grows no greater than this.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin

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