snappish en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈsnæpɪʃ/
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Middle Dutch snappen Dutch snappenbor. Low German snappenbor. English snap Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-isk Old English -isċ Middle English -isch English -ish English snappish From snap + -ish.
Meanings
-
Likely to snap or bite.
She came to us snappish and suspicious, but when she found what sort of place ours was, it all went off by degrees; […]
[1877], Anna Sewell, “Earlshall”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part II, page 102:A snappish cur
-
Exhibiting irritation or impatience; curt; irascible.
The past fortnight had been one of sullenness, cold black looks, short snappish words, and those ingenious contradictions which sometimes vary the halcyon calm of domestic felicity.
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 222:Even though the woman didn't work closely with Barsade, so palpable was her complaining and snappish temperament that it had infected everyone who worked around her.
2011, Lynne McTaggart, The Bond, Simon & Schuster, published 2011, →ISBN, page 91:She heard her own voice, snappish and rude, and pressed a hand to her head.
1990, Nora Roberts, Taming Natasha, Silhouette Books, published 2011, →ISBN:There was something underneath her snappish belligerence that made him feel protective and tolerant.
2011, Mary Doria Russell, Doc, Random House, published 2011, →ISBN, page 173:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more snappish | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most snappish | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (15)
sv bitsk (likely to snap or bite) · la mordax (likely to snap or bite) · de patzig (exhibiting irritation) · bg хаплив (likely to snap or bite) · sv snäsig (exhibiting irritation) · bg раздразнителен (exhibiting irritation) · fi tiuskiva (exhibiting irritation) · sv argsint (exhibiting irritation) · fi kärkevä (exhibiting irritation) · fi pureva (likely to snap or bite) · bg сприхав (exhibiting irritation) · fr hargneux (likely to snap or bite) · de bissig (likely to snap or bite) · fr hargneux (exhibiting irritation) · de schnippisch (exhibiting irritation)