snapshot
Americannoun
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snapshots
plural
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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:
But the monthly snapshot looks very different elsewhere.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
The latest snapshot of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification projects that more than four million children aged six months to five years old will need treatment for acute malnutrition next year.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
A more direct snapshot of the past six years also shows things are improving.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
It showed a snapshot of his checking and savings account balances and other details, courtesy of his agent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
And that fading snapshot on her sill, the kid in the swing, the clock in the frame ticking away.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
Time has now transformed the pictures from informal snapshots of an underground scene into historical documents.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
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
The manuscript, which includes the daughter’s blurry Polaroid snapshots and postcards from their travels, chronicles the pair’s trials, adventures and conversations as they pursue Nanna’s past and their own futures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 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
Lourdes sends her snapshots of pastries from her bakery in Brooklyn.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
