Meaning & use
snowflake
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A small piece of frozen water that falls from clouds as snow, often with a delicate branching shape.
Grammar: Countable: one snowflake, two snowflakes.
Patterns
- a snowflake falls
- a snowflake lands on something
A single snowflake landed on my glove and melted.
No two snowflakes are exactly alike.
The children tried to catch snowflakes on their tongues.
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
An informal, often insulting word for someone seen as too easily upset or offended.
Grammar: Countable and usually used as an insult; avoid in polite or formal situations.
Patterns
- call someone a snowflake
- a generation of snowflakes
He called his critics snowflakes, which only made them angrier.
The article complained that young people are treated as snowflakes.
Using 'snowflake' as an insult says more about the speaker than the person.
Word forms
| plural | snowflakes |
|---|
Common combinations
- a snowflake falls
- We watched a snowflake fall slowly past the window.
- catch snowflakes
- The kids ran outside to catch snowflakes.
- a snowflake pattern
- The sweater had a white snowflake pattern.
- no two snowflakes are alike
- My grandmother always said no two snowflakes are alike.
Synonyms and how they differ
- flake
- Shorter and more general; it can also mean a small piece of cereal or paint.
Word family
Commonly confused: snowflake or snow?
snowflake vs snow
Snow is the mass of frozen water; a snowflake is one small piece of it.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'snowflake' in its literal sense?
Choose one answer.
Only option B describes a real piece of falling snow; the others use the informal insult meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “snowflake”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.