snapshot
Americannoun
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an informal photograph, especially one taken quickly by a handheld camera.
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Hunting. a quick shot taken without deliberate aim.
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Informal. a brief appraisal, summary, or profile.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing snapshot
Photography Lingo
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Additional Literary Terms, Unit 2
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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.
See Examples For:
A BBC snapshot of petrol prices in Hull on Tuesday found a difference of more than 11p a litre between forecourts less than three miles apart.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
The test, she said, “is just a snapshot; it doesn’t say what a student has actually learned.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
All 50 states, five US territories such as Puerto Rico, plus an array of sporting and cultural organizations have made contributions to this collective national snapshot.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Both his seismic and economic disaster scenarios failed to pan out, thank goodness, but it was a snapshot of that era’s economic angst.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
He saw that he had overlooked an enclosed snapshot.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
Users said ADI Predictstreet mismanaged the contest, unexpectedly shifting the dates of snapshots and altering the rules, then failing to deliver tickets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
They’re snapshots of what you did, why it mattered and how your beliefs influenced your actions.
From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026
Using a newly developed imaging technique, the team captured detailed snapshots of the positions of paired atoms.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 27, 2026
But there’s a remove in the rigorous focus on the snapshots that perhaps also protects her from the full crushing weight of these emotions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
The world is coming at me in high-contrast snapshots, deprived of narrative continuity.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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
This clumsiness clings even to the photographs of public men, as they are snapshotted at public meetings.
From Utopia of Usurers and Other Essays by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)
The Chief of Police has just been here and left instructions that snapshotting is an invasion of private rights.
From The Tempering by Buck, Charles Neville
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.
