Meaning & use
word snipe
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitiveinformal
To criticize someone by focusing on a small mistake in their wording instead of the main point they are making.
Grammar: Can take an object (word snipe someone) or be used alone (stop word sniping).
Patterns
- word snipe someone
- word snipe about something
- word snipe at someone
Instead of answering her question, he word sniped her typo.
The debate turned ugly when both sides started word sniping.
nouncountableinformal
An act of criticizing someone for a small wording mistake rather than the main argument.
Grammar: Countable: you can make a word snipe or several word snipes.
Patterns
- a word snipe at someone
- make a word snipe
His reply was just a word snipe, not a real response to the evidence.
She ignored the word snipes and repeated her main point.
Word forms
| third person singular | word snipes |
|---|---|
| past tense | word sniped |
| past participle | word sniped |
| -ing form | word sniping |
| plural | word snipes |
Common combinations
- word snipe someone's typo
- He word sniped her typo instead of answering the question.
- start word sniping
- The thread went off topic when people started word sniping.
- a word snipe at someone
- That comment was a word snipe at the author, not a serious critique.
Synonyms and how they differ
Commonly confused: word snipe or snipe?
word snipe vs snipe
Snipe alone means to shoot from a hidden position or to make a critical remark; word snipe is only about criticizing someone's wording.
Practice
What does 'word snipe' mean?
Choose one answer.
Word snipe means to attack the wording rather than the argument. Option An is the opposite; option C describes a different activity; option D is about volume, not criticism.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “word snipe”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.