snowflake
Americannoun
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snowflakes
plural
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one of the small, feathery masses or flakes in which snow falls.
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Facetious Slang. a person who is considered unique and deserving of special treatment.
I have twenty-eight special snowflakes in my classroom, and their parents’ demands make teaching impossible!
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Slang. a person who is easily offended, overly sensitive, or emotionally fragile.
You snowflakes need to leave your safe spaces and engage with people who disagree with your beliefs.
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Meteorology.
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an agglomeration of snow crystals falling as a unit.
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any snow particle.
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any of certain European plants belonging to the genus Leucojum, of the amaryllis family, resembling the snowdrop.
noun
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one of the mass of small thin delicate arrangements of ice crystals that fall as snow
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any of various European amaryllidaceous plants of the genus Leucojum, such as L. vernum ( spring snowflake ), that have white nodding bell-shaped flowers
Usage
What else does snowflake mean? No, we're not walking in a winter wonderland. Snowflake, here, is a political insult for someone who is perceived as too sensitive, often used for millennials and liberals.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of snowflake
Explanation
When it snows, each individual bit of snow you see is a snowflake. Each snowflake is made up of an ice crystal—or several ice crystals stuck together. At the center of every snowflake is a tiny particle of dust, which attracts drops of water that freeze and form crystals. If you look at a snowflake through a microscope, you can see how complex its pattern is—and each one really is different from every other snowflake. This fact led to the informal, derogatory meaning of this word, "someone who's overly sensitive because they're supposedly so special."
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:
The film cuts to a hummingbird sipping nectar from a flower on a cactus, a sea turtle floating over a coral reef, pink flamingos on a green lake, a snowflake, a butterfly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
The sensors also have an aerosol probe that measures particulate matter, because dust helps with snowflake formation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
It was carved from rock crystal and decorated with rose-cut diamonds, as well as platinum snowflake motifs.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025
The arrival of only one snowflake adds to Gobo’s severe case of writer’s block.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
You know that snowflake I saw last night?
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
Not to be a bummer, but come summer, you might just find yourself missing the snowflakes.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2026
Similar to how snowflakes stick together to build a snowball, tiny particles were drawn together by gravity into larger clusters.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 23, 2026
Like snowflakes, every stock market bubble is unique.
From Barron's ● Jan. 8, 2026
She can munch on pizza made out of molten lava, or apply snowflakes and cotton candy as lip gloss.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2025
The curtains were never drawn in that house, and through the windows I could see huge snowflakes falling slowly on to an outside world that was as black as tar.
From "The Witches" by Roald Dahl
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
