snappish

English

WOTD – 12 February 2013

Etymology

snap +‎ -ish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsnæpɪʃ/

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æpɪʃ
• Hyphenation: snap‧pish

Adjective

snappish (comparative more snappish, superlative most snappish)

1. Likely to snap or bite.

   A snappish cur

   • 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Chapter 22[1]

     "She came to us snappish and suspicious, but when she found what sort of place ours was, it all went off by degrees

2. Exhibiting irritation or impatience; curt; irascible.
   • 1990, Nora Roberts, Taming Natasha, Silhouette Books (2011), →ISBN, unnumbered page:

     She heard her own voice, snappish and rude, and pressed a hand to her head.

   • 2011, Lynne McTaggart, The Bond, Simon & Schuster (2011), →ISBN, page 91:

     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, Mary Doria Russell, Doc, Random House (2011), →ISBN, page 173:

     There was something underneath her snappish belligerence that made him feel protective and tolerant.

Derived terms

• snappishly
• snappishness

Translations

likely to snap or bite

• Finnish: pureva (fi)
• French: harneux
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: bissig (de)
• Latin: mordax
• Swedish: bitsk (sv)

exhibiting irritation

• Finnish: kärkevä, tiuskiva
• French: hargneux (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: patzig (de), schnippisch
• Swedish: snäsig, argsint (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} hargneux (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}