snowbird
Americannoun
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any of various birds that winter in a cold, snowy climate, especially the dark-eyed junco and the snow bunting.
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Informal. a person who vacations in or moves to a warmer climate during cold weather.
Since 9/11, the ease with which Canadian snowbirds cross the U.S. border has changed.
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Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a person addicted to cocaine or heroine.
The cocaine addiction of pre-talkies film star Alma Rubens earned her the unfortunate nickname “Silent Snowbird.”
noun
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another name for the snow bunting
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slang a person addicted to cocaine, or sometimes heroin
Etymology
Origin of snowbird
First recorded in 1665–75; snow (in the sense “precipitation; snowflake”) + bird; 1910–15 snowbird for def. 3, with snow (in the sense “cocaine or heroin”)
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.
"They've completely changed their snowbird plans," the semi-retired family physician said.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2025
The most famous housing development in local history was a land-fraud scam that marketed empty desert tracts to gullible northerners — a sham version of snowbird refuges like the one where Duckels had grown up.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2022
Now, she is debating selling her house altogether or returning to the snowbird lifestyle, moving closer to one of her daughters and spending only the winter months in the area.
From New York Times ● Oct. 10, 2022
Golden-Bear, who settled in Quartzsite in 2010 and runs the town’s newspaper, the Desert Messenger, was once a snowbird, coming here most winters from Oregon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2021
The snowbird people from cold places like Michigan and Canada suddenly start to wander into El Caribe to make it even more crowded.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
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.
