snapshot

American  

[snap-shot] / ˈsnæpˌʃɒt /

noun

• snapshots
  plural

1. an informal photograph, especially one taken quickly by a handheld camera.

2. Hunting. a quick shot taken without deliberate aim.

3. Informal. a brief appraisal, summary, or profile.

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verb (used with or without object)

snapshot, snapshotted, snapshotting

1. to photograph informally and quickly.

snapshot British  

/ ˈsnæpˌʃɒt /

noun

1. Often shortened to: snap.  an informal photograph taken with a simple camera

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• snapshots
  plural

Etymology

Origin of snapshot

1800–10 snapshot for def. 2; 1860–65 snapshot for def. 1; snap (in the sense “done suddenly or casually”) + shot ¹

Explanation

A snapshot is a quick photograph taken for fun. Be sure to take lots of snapshots while you're on vacation! Using the word snapshot makes it clear you're not talking about professional photographs or artistic shots you've put some thought into. A snapshot just captures a brief moment in time. You can also use this word to mean "impression or summary." A person's obituary, even if deeply moving, can never be more than a snapshot of their varied, complex life. The original 17th0century meaning of snapshot was "quick shot with a gun at a fast-moving target."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

snapshot snapshots snapshotted snapshotting

The newly recognized Late Mississippian fossil also provides a valuable snapshot of an intermediate stage in insect evolution.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

However, the annual snapshot is seen as significantly undercounting the extent of the problem due to strict rules over how the data is collected.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Keep in mind that in the case of this particular fund, it is only a snapshot.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

Provisional purchasing managers’ surveys for the U.S., eurozone and the U.K. will provide a snapshot of business-sector activity during July just as military conflict in the Middle East has resumed, pulling oil prices higher.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Santa paused to give the snapshot a moist kiss.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

Much of the previous work has relied on snapshots taken at a single point in time, focused mainly on school-age children, or lacked repeated measurements throughout early childhood.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

However, the SSA currently does not provide the same detailed, real-time metrics as it did in the past, instead providing only snapshots of its performance, which makes it difficult to verify the improvements, critics said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

“If a phone call is intimate and your conversations on a regular basis are snapshots of your face making funny images, then the idea of going into deep intimacy must be absolutely terrifying.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

AFP photo editor Maximilien Lamy was on holiday with his partner and daughter last week when he took a series of snapshots of vacationers in fire-struck southwest France with his smartphone.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

And pictures: candid snapshots of me in a parking lot, me leaving my house, me at the mall.

From "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli

The student survey indicating widespread opposition to the policy—released in February shortly after the grade proposal was publicized—was taken at an “unrepresentative moment” because it snapshotted students’ initial shock, she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026

Users can choose which apps are used by the feature, and private mode on some browsers will not be snapshotted.

From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2025

“I know sometimes things can be snapshotted in a certain way in a particular cultural moment,” said Hernandez.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2024

Josh Kaplan explains this weird new surveillance technology that most people are still unaware of—especially those whose cars are being snapshotted.

From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2019

She snapshotted watertanks, whistling posts, lunch stands, section houses, grade crossings and holes in the snowshed—also scenery, people and climate.

From Roughing it De Luxe by John T. McCutcheon

The Chief of Police has just been here and left instructions that snapshotting is an invasion of private rights.

From The Tempering by Charles Neville Buck

Related Words

• photo