whippersnapper
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of whippersnapper
1665–75; probably blend of earlier whipster and snippersnapper, similar in sense; whip, snap, -er 1
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.
To paraphrase the delegate’s argument, she was going to do her part to encourage people to vote whenever she damn well pleased, and was disinclined to submit to scripted choreography dictated by some whippersnapper.
From Salon • Aug. 24, 2024
A late-career lark for Steve Martin and Martin Short has become a beloved television institution; teamed with relative whippersnapper Selena Gomez, they form a comedy trio like none other.
From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2024
The whippersnapper was about 5 to 7 years old, some 4 meters long, and weighed about 350 kilograms—as much as a large domestic pig, and about 1/10 the heft of its parent.
From Science Magazine • Dec. 7, 2023
On the verge of its 90th birthday, Granada FC is a mere whippersnapper when compared to the magnificent 800-year-old edifice that dominates the city.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2021
“Hundred and fifty million years? A whippersnapper among ammonites, really. What say we buy it for you?”
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
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.
