snippy

American  

[snip-ee] / ˈsnɪp i /

Also snippety

adjective

snippier, snippiest

1. sharp or curt, especially in a supercilious or haughty way; impertinent.

2. scrappy or fragmentary.

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snippy British  

/ ˈsnɪpɪ /

adjective

1. scrappy; fragmentary

2. informal fault-finding

3. dialect mean; stingy

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Other Word Forms

• snippetiness
  noun
• snippily
  adverb
• snippiness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of snippy

First recorded in 1720–30; snip + -y ¹

Example Sentences

He was not accorded this privilege, but was sent out with a boy nicknamed "Snippy".

From The Trail of the Tramp by Livingston, Leon Ray

Plainly Snippy Brown was fairly crying to be raided.

From Sunny Slopes by Hueston, Ethel

Go back to your goose, Snippy; you never were made for this work.

From Doctor Thorne by Trollope, Anthony

Just love, love to mother, and love to father, and Snippy and Peg, an' good-bye to 'em all, an' how he was glad to die for England.

From Atlantic Narratives Modern Short Stories by Ashe, Elizabeth