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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

snub.

Conspicuously short.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/snʌb//snʊb/Ireland, Northern-England
  1. Conspicuously short.

    a snub-nosed revolver
  2. Flat and broad, with the end slightly turned up.

  3. Derived from a simpler polyhedron by the addition of extra triangular faces.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English snubben, snibben (noun), either indigenous or from Old Norse snubba (“to curse, chide, snub, scold, reprove, rebuff, infringe”), from Proto-Germanic *snūbaną, *snūpaną. Related to English snip, snap, snape, sneap, to Old Norse sneypa (among more), to Proto-Germanic *snaupijaną. The original sense is visible in Nordic cognates, to an original sense of “pinching off” (→ “to repress, infringe”), really “snipping off” (Old Norse sneypa, Norwegian Nynorsk snøypa, Swedish snöpa, snoppa, snipa, snippa (“to pinch off, to squeeze off, to castrate”)), with nouns denoting “pinched end → point” (cf. Swedish snip (“snout, spout”), snibb (“lobe”)). Maybe distantly related to snoop (“be nosy”), to “pinched point” referencing snouts, i.e. the “pinched of point of the animal” (cf. Swedish snopp (“penis”)), then also maybe sniff. Compare Proto-Germanic *snabulaz; also English neb, nib (“beak, point”). Other cognate forms: Danish snubbe, snibbe, snibe, snippe, sneppe, snøbba; Swedish snebba, snåipa, snypa, snyppa.

noun/snʌb//snʊb/Ireland, Northern-England
  1. A deliberate affront or slight.

    I hope the people we couldn't invite don't see it as a snub.
  2. A sudden checking of a cable or rope.

  3. A knot; a protuberance; a snag.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English snubben, snibben (noun), either indigenous or from Old Norse snubba (“to curse, chide, snub, scold, reprove, rebuff, infringe”), from Proto-Germanic *snūbaną, *snūpaną. Related to English snip, snap, snape, sneap, to Old Norse sneypa (among more), to Proto-Germanic *snaupijaną. The original sense is visible in Nordic cognates, to an original sense of “pinching off” (→ “to repress, infringe”), really “snipping off” (Old Norse sneypa, Norwegian Nynorsk snøypa, Swedish snöpa, snoppa, snipa, snippa (“to pinch off, to squeeze off, to castrate”)), with nouns denoting “pinched end → point” (cf. Swedish snip (“snout, spout”), snibb (“lobe”)). Maybe distantly related to snoop (“be nosy”), to “pinched point” referencing snouts, i.e. the “pinched of point of the animal” (cf. Swedish snopp (“penis”)), then also maybe sniff. Compare Proto-Germanic *snabulaz; also English neb, nib (“beak, point”). Other cognate forms: Danish snubbe, snibbe, snibe, snippe, sneppe, snøbba; Swedish snebba, snåipa, snypa, snyppa.

verb/snʌb//snʊb/Ireland, Northern-England
  1. To slight, ignore or behave coldly toward someone.

    transitive
  2. To turn down insultingly; to dismiss.

    transitive
    He snubbed my offer of help.
  3. To check; to reprimand.

    transitive
  4. To stub out (a cigarette etc).

    transitive
  5. To halt the movement of a rope etc by turning it about a cleat or bollard etc; to secure a vessel in this manner.

    transitive
  6. To clip or break off the end of; to check or stunt the growth of.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English snubben, snibben (noun), either indigenous or from Old Norse snubba (“to curse, chide, snub, scold, reprove, rebuff, infringe”), from Proto-Germanic *snūbaną, *snūpaną. Related to English snip, snap, snape, sneap, to Old Norse sneypa (among more), to Proto-Germanic *snaupijaną. The original sense is visible in Nordic cognates, to an original sense of “pinching off” (→ “to repress, infringe”), really “snipping off” (Old Norse sneypa, Norwegian Nynorsk snøypa, Swedish snöpa, snoppa, snipa, snippa (“to pinch off, to squeeze off, to castrate”)), with nouns denoting “pinched end → point” (cf. Swedish snip (“snout, spout”), snibb (“lobe”)). Maybe distantly related to snoop (“be nosy”), to “pinched point” referencing snouts, i.e. the “pinched of point of the animal” (cf. Swedish snopp (“penis”)), then also maybe sniff. Compare Proto-Germanic *snabulaz; also English neb, nib (“beak, point”). Other cognate forms: Danish snubbe, snibbe, snibe, snippe, sneppe, snøbba; Swedish snebba, snåipa, snypa, snyppa.

verb/snʌb//snʊb/Ireland, Northern-England
  1. To sob with convulsions.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English snubben, snobben (“to sob”). Compare Dutch snuiven (“to snort, to pant”), German schnauben, German dialect schnupfen (“to sob”), and English snuff (transitive verb).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.