Meaning & use
snaggle-toothed
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Having teeth that stick out at uneven angles, especially because some are broken, missing, or crowded.
Grammar: Used mainly before a noun, as in a snaggle-toothed smile; it is not usually put after a linking verb like be.
Patterns
- a snaggle-toothed smile
- a snaggle-toothed grin
- a snaggle-toothed old man
The old fisherman gave us a snaggle-toothed grin.
In the photograph she is a snaggle-toothed child of about seven.
He tried to look serious, but his snaggle-toothed smile gave him away.
adjectivebefore a nounfigurative
Looking rough, uneven, or badly worn, as if the edges have been broken or bitten away.
Grammar: Used figuratively before a noun to describe shapes or objects, not people's teeth.
Patterns
- a snaggle-toothed skyline
- a snaggle-toothed mountain range
From the boat we could see the snaggle-toothed skyline of the ruined town.
The wind had carved the cliffs into a snaggle-toothed ridge.
Common combinations
- a snaggle-toothed grin
- The boy answered with a snaggle-toothed grin.
- a snaggle-toothed smile
- Her snaggle-toothed smile made everyone in the room relax.
- a snaggle-toothed old man
- A snaggle-toothed old man sat whittling by the door.
- a snaggle-toothed child
- The school photo shows a snaggle-toothed child with untidy hair.
- snaggle-toothed and weather-beaten
- The sailor was snaggle-toothed and weather-beaten after years at sea.
- a snaggle-toothed monster
- The puppet was a snaggle-toothed monster with wild green fur.
Synonyms and how they differ
- buck-toothed
- Describes teeth that stick forward, often evenly, rather than being broken or uneven.
- gap-toothed
- Focuses on spaces between the teeth, especially a missing front tooth, not on jagged shapes.
- crooked
- A general word for anything not straight; it does not mention teeth by itself.
Opposites
Word family
- snaggle verb
- A rare verb meaning to become tangled or to stick out unevenly.
- toothed adjective
- Having teeth of a stated kind, as in sharp-toothed or saw-toothed.
Commonly confused: snaggle-toothed or snaggle? snaggle-toothed or toothy?
snaggle-toothed vs snaggle
Snaggle is the rare base word; snaggle-toothed is the common adjective and is always written with a hyphen.
snaggle-toothed vs toothy
Toothy simply means showing a lot of teeth in a smile and says nothing about whether they are uneven.
Practice
Which sentence uses snaggle-toothed correctly?
Choose one answer.
Snaggle-toothed normally comes before a noun, so 'a snaggle-toothed grin' fits. Option 0 puts it after 'are', which is unusual; option 2 uses it as an adverb; option 3 uses it as a noun, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “snaggle-toothed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.