snappish

English

WOTD – 12 February 2013, 12 February 2014

Etymology

From snap +‎ -ish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsnæpɪʃ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (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, “Earlshall”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part II, page 102:

     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.
   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 222:

     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.

   • 1990, Nora Roberts, Taming Natasha‎, Silhouette Books, published 2011, →ISBN:

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

   • 2011, Lynne McTaggart, The Bond, Simon & Schuster, published 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, published 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

Bulgarian: хаплив (bg) (hapliv) Finnish: pureva (fi) French: hargneux (fr) German: bissig (de) Latin: mordax Swedish: bitsk (sv)

exhibiting irritation

Bulgarian: сприхав (bg) (sprihav), раздразнителен (bg) (razdraznitelen) Finnish: kärkevä (fi), tiuskiva French: hargneux (fr) German: patzig (de), schnippisch Swedish: snäsig (sv), 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)