as in lightweights
a person of no importance or influence
some young whippersnapper piped up with a pointless comment
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Recent Examples of whippersnappers
More, the coaches of the last three title-winning teams (Florida’s Todd Golden and Hurley) all come from the current crop of whippersnappers, as do the leaders of each 1-seed in this tourney.
—
Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 26 Mar. 2026
Mills gives off the disarming sense of a secure soul undeterred by whippersnappers who toss around fancy words such as gerontocracy.
—Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2026
Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 26 Mar. 2026
Mills gives off the disarming sense of a secure soul undeterred by whippersnappers who toss around fancy words such as gerontocracy.
—Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whippersnappers
Noun
-
In the lightweights, Cash McClurg (108 pounds) and Emilio Escobar (120) won titles, the latter winning 21-5 for a technical fall.—
Breven Honda,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Feb. 2026
-
Hughes is one of the world's top lightweights in MMA, the sport where McGregor built his following and name.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Seattle’s John Schneider and New England’s Eliot Wolf rose up from young nobodies to graduate from Green Bay Packers University, too.—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
7 Feb. 2026
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Where else could award winning writers pop off about nothing at all, and nobodies could rattle the ivory towers?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Nov. 2025
Noun
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As zonky cross-generational ciphers go, the group’s debut, Strictly 4 the Scythe, is no Hypnotize Camp Posse, the amalgam of Three 6 Mafia and a grip of artists signed to their Hypnotize Minds label in the early 2000s.—
Dylan Green,
Pitchfork,
12 Mar. 2026
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The still-unidentified Zodiac Killer, who terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s, frequently sent threats, demands and ciphers to multiple local papers — namely the San Francisco Chronicle.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
21 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The Dodgers’ $850-million annual revenue dwarfs competitors like the Diamondbacks at $324 million, exemplifying the financial gulf driving owners’ desire for cost controls.—
Bill Shaikin,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Beyond rock and ice The finding of L 98-59 d challenges the long-standing astronomical belief that small exoplanets must be either gas dwarfs or water worlds covered in ice and oceans.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
16 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Besides carnivorous snake-trees, majestic candlehawks, and various glittering quasi-insects, the Scythian biome includes a species called the basket-men, who look like a cross between great apes and praying mantises.—
Stephanie Burt,
New Yorker,
1 Apr. 2026
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The housekeeping team fogs the balés every week to keep most of the biting insects at bay, and gardens teeming with mosquito-repelling lemongrass and zodia plants help keep them at a distance.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Whippersnappers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whippersnappers. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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