bandersnatch

American  

[ban-der-snach] / ˈbæn dərˌsnætʃ /

noun

1. an imaginary wild animal of fierce disposition.

2. a person of uncouth or unconventional habits, attitudes, etc., especially one considered a menace, nuisance, or the like.

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Etymology

Origin of bandersnatch

Coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking Glass (1871)

Explanation

A bandersnatch is an imaginary, strange, and fearsome creature. The noun bandersnatch is also used as a descriptive way to refer to a person who seems wild and threatening. Bandersnatch comes from the poem "Jabberwocky," by Lewis Carroll. The poem is full of words that Carroll invented. The part with bandersnatch reads like this:

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

Bandersnatch is now sometimes used to refer to any imaginary, fierce creature, or to any person who should be avoided — like the really grouchy neighbor who complains about everything and everyone.

Example Sentences

Remember the interactive standalone Black Mirror film Bandersnatch, where Asim Chaudhry and Will Poulter played a games company boss and a genius developer?

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2025

Tickner, who was born in New York on Sept. 8, 1946, was a former rocker with the San Francisco band Frumious Bandersnatch with bassist Ross Valory.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 6, 2023

Think Black Mirror: Bandersnatch mixed with Jackbox’s many-player multiplayer brand of trivia.

From The Verge • Jul. 24, 2022

But its push into interactive TV for adults began with 2018’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.

From Slate • May 28, 2022

Bandersnatch, a vessel of nine hundred thousand horse-power, and a mean average displacement of four hundred thousand tons.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 101, October 3, 1891 by Various