snippet

American  

[snip-it] / ˈsnɪp ɪt /

noun

1. a small piece snipped off; a small bit, scrap, or fragment.

   an anthology of snippets.

2. Informal. a small or insignificant person.

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snippet British  

/ ˈsnɪpɪt /

noun

1. a small scrap or fragment

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Other Word Forms

• snippetiness noun
• snippety adjective

Etymology

Origin of snippet

First recorded in 1655–65; snip + -et

Explanation

A snippet is a tiny piece. You might only have time to read a snippet of "Moby Dick" before your early English class — just enough to know it's a book about a whale. While a snippet can be a literal fragment of something, like a snippet of hair clipped off the end of your dog's tail, the word is often used to talk about less physical bits. You may get a snippet of information by watching TV news with the sound turned off, or end your writing workshop with just a snippet of an idea for your screenplay. It comes from snip, with its Low German root snippen, "to snip or shred."

Example Sentences

One snippet seems to be an episode on Elisa Lam, the real-life tourist found dead in the rooftop water tank of Los Angeles’ Cecil Hotel.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2026

But his big break would be the 13-second Whopper-chomp snippet.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026

These often addressed the open-mindedness and freedom jazz requires, as in this snippet from drummer Billy Higgins: “We were of the attitude that music was music.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 25, 2025

But others say it can be effective in helping us find a snippet of calm in a busy, intense world.

From BBC • Nov. 8, 2025

Radar played a snippet of one of his songs—a high- pitched scratchy voice sang about unions.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green

Related Words

• bit
• fragment
• morsel
• smidgen