whippersnapper
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of whippersnapper
1665–75; probably blend of earlier whipster and snippersnapper, similar in sense; see whip, snap, -er 1
Explanation
A whippersnapper is someone who is younger than you are but also irritatingly overconfident and impertinent, like your little smart aleck cousin. The word whippersnapper describes a specific kind of bratty, know-it-all kid, and it's only used by an older person who is talking about a younger person. It's a fairly old-fashioned word, having been around since the late-1600s, when it apparently arose out of "whip-snapper," which implied a general sense of lots of noise and very little importance. Around the same time, the word "whipperginnie" was a derogatory term for a woman.
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.
Downhill runners on the Green Mountain's Whippersnapper Trail, by dropping a coin in a box at the starting line, can find their time�registered in split seconds�in a box at the finish line.
From Time Magazine Archive
"By my sowl thin, you know betther thoughts than your own, Mr. Whippersnapper, if that's the name you go by."
From Stories of Comedy by Johnson, Rossiter
On Tuesday evening Prince Whippersnapper makes his appearance, and my reign is over.
From The Virginians by Thackeray, William Makepeace
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.
