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)

Likely to snap or bite.
A snappish cur
- 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Chapter 22
  "She came to us snappish and suspicious, but when she found what sort of place ours was, it all went off by degrees
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

Translations

likely to snap or bite

Finnish: pureva (fi)
French: harneux

German: bissig (de)
Swedish: bitsk (sv)

exhibiting irritation

Finnish: kärkevä, tiuskiva
French: hargneux (fr)

German: patzig (de), schnippisch
Swedish: snäsig, argsint (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: ^{(please verify)} hargneux (fr)

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