Meaning & use
whippersnapper
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableold-fashionedhumorous
A young person who seems too confident or cheeky for their age and experience.
Grammar: Countable and typically said by an older speaker: you young whippersnapper.
Patterns
- a young whippersnapper
- you whippersnapper
The old sailor grinned at the whippersnapper who claimed he could steer better.
Grandpa called the new intern a whippersnapper, but he said it with a smile.
Who is this whippersnapper telling me how to run my garden?
Word forms
| plural | whippersnappers |
|---|
Common combinations
- young whippersnapper
- That young whippersnapper thinks he knows everything.
- cheeky whippersnapper
- The cheeky whippersnapper corrected my spelling.
- little whippersnapper
- The little whippersnapper beat me at chess.
- you whippersnapper
- Listen here, you whippersnapper, and show some respect.
- a confident whippersnapper
- The boss hired a confident whippersnapper from a rival firm.
Synonyms and how they differ
- upstart
- Upstart is more critical and suggests someone who has risen too quickly and acts self-importantly, while whippersnapper is lighter and teasing.
- pipsqueak
- Pipsqueak stresses smallness and unimportance, whereas whippersnapper stresses cheeky confidence.
- young pup
- Young pup is also teasing but suggests inexperience and eagerness more than boldness.
- jackanapes
- Jackanapes is an older, rarer word for a conceited or mischievous person and sounds even more dated.
Opposites
Commonly confused: whippersnapper or whipper-in?
whippersnapper vs whipper-in
A whipper-in is a hunt official who controls the hounds, not a cheeky youngster.
Practice
The retired mechanic chuckled and said, "You young ______ think you know more than me!"
Choose one answer.
Whippersnapper is the playful, old-fashioned term for a cheeky young person. A veteran or an elder is an experienced person, so those words would not describe the young people.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “whippersnapper”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.