snippy

adjective

snip·​py ˈsni-pē 

snippier; snippiest

1

: short-tempered, snappish

2

: unduly brief or curt

3

: putting on airs : sniffy

snippily

ˈsni-pə-lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• abrupt
• bluff
• blunt
• brusque
• brusk
• crusty
• curt
• downright
• short
• short-spoken
• unceremonious

Examples of snippy in a Sentence

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get snippy with you.

snippy remarks about the quality of the food at the church picnic

Recent Examples on the Web

Julia Michaels and Maren Morris are feeling snippy. —Marina Watts, People.com, 10 Jan. 2025

In a high-pressure world of presidential campaigns, her arrival brought some measure of stability to the traveling roadshows and a professionalism to exhausted and snippy candidates. —Philip Elliott, TIME, 20 May 2024

He was being snippy with other dogs and facing a medical issue so mysterious that every test had been run and a doggy MRI ordered. —Katherine Bindley, WSJ, 13 Nov. 2023

Saban turned and mentioned Bama Central reporter Austin Hannon by name and walked back a snippy response from Saturday’s postgame news conference. —Michael Casagrande | [e-mail], al, 6 Sep. 2023

Word History

Etymology

snip entry 2

First Known Use

circa 1848, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

snippy

adjective

snip·​py ˈsnip-ē 

snippier; snippiest

1

: short-tempered, snappish

2

: rudely brief : curt