snappy

From snap + -y.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsnæpi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æpi

snappy (comparative snappier, superlative snappiest)

1. (informal) Rapid and without delay.

   Synonyms: fast, immediate, quick

   a snappy response

   Make it snappy! ― Hurry up!

2. (informal) Irritable.

   Synonyms: peevish, testy, tetchy

   You're snappy this morning; did you not sleep well?

   • 1913, Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes, The Lodger:

     She, Ellen, was sorry she had spoken so sharp-like to the girl, but after all it wasn’t wonderful that she had been snappy.

3. (informal) Tidy; well-dressed; sharp.

   Here he is, looking snappy in his brand-new suit.

   • 1933, Stella Blum, Everyday Fashion of the Thirties as pictured in Sears Catalogs, published 1986, page 56:

     The niftiest, snappiest slacks you ever saw!

4. Chilly, brisk, sharp.

   Synonyms: nippy, parky

   snappy weather;   snappy pace;   snappy rejoinder

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     The day was cool and snappy for August, and the Rise all green with a lavish nature. Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet: […] .

5. Tending to snap or bite.

   a snappy dog

   • 2023 April 19, Pip Dunn, “Jack of all trades... and master of most”, in RAIL, number 981, page 56:

     These spring-loaded seats are a bit harder and very snappy when you get off them.

6. Clever, catchy.

   a snappy motto