clipped
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of clipped
Explanation
Use the adjective clipped for things that are cut very short — or for things that sound that way. "A clipped lawn is better for croquet," she announced in clipped tones. While you can use clipped where you'd use words like "shorn" or "trimmed," it's more common for this adjective to describe a particular way of speaking. If someone talks in a slightly irritated, very direct way, using sharp, short sounds, their speech is clipped. You can hear the difference between your math teacher's laid back "Hey kids, have a seat!" and your gym teacher's clipped command, "Take a knee. Now."
Vocabulary lists containing clipped
"Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou
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Novel Study: Fences, Act 2
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The Brightwood Code
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She has never clipped her children’s toenails—too anxious for that, she said, so the nanny handles it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
My daughter is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Clover, and for the past couple of months, she’s had clipped to her collar an A.I. communication device known as the PetPhone.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026
Either way, the onetime roommates and bandmates pioneered a discomfiting broken-doll aesthetic of smudged eyeliner, smeared lipstick and plastic barrettes clipped to hanks of bleached-out hair.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026
Hilton, who cuts an unmistakable image with his bald crown and clipped English accent, proved himself as a polished communicator during the debates, skills honed by his years as a Fox News analyst.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
How odd it is to realize that her voice doesn’t sound clipped at all, actually.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
