whippersnapper

noun

ˈ(h)wi-pər-ˌsna-pər How to pronounce whippersnapper (audio)
Definition of whippersnappernext
as in dwarf
a person of no importance or influence some young whippersnapper piped up with a pointless comment

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of whippersnapper The tree was probably a young whippersnapper when the city was founded in 1836, McBain figures. — Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2026 And the Sharks have no obvious replacement for him — no young whippersnapper in the pipeline ready for his moment. — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 30 Dec. 2025 And Markey has defeated whippersnapper-type political foes before. — David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 3 Oct. 2025 The reasons for the show’s appeal are manifold, starting with the odd-trio chemistry of the three leads (Short, plus his longtime co-conspirator Steve Martin and relative whippersnapper Selena Gomez). — Damon Wise, Deadline, 8 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for whippersnapper
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whippersnapper
  1. dwarf
  2. cipher
  3. nobody
  4. lightweight
  5. insect
  6. twerp
Noun
  • The image, captured a year earlier by the Hubble Space Telescope, showed UGC 9050-Dw1, a dwarf galaxy some 115 million light-years from Earth.
    — Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Watching all ten members sing at once is funny the way the seven dwarves all sleeping in their little beds next to each other is funny.
    — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of dwarf
Noun
  • There’s that vibrancy and, on the other side of the ledger, dead boys, ciphers, unfinished or unfinishable quests.
    — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
  • But in my view, our relationships to animals, whose lives are untouched by the existential woes and artifices of personhood, are the richest and most evident ciphers for our own often inscrutable psyches.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 June 2026
Definition of cipher
Noun
  • In the trailer, the civilians are selling themselves as a new breed of nobodies.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Despite the tragicomic instability and the rotating cast of nobodies temporarily tasked with running the country, when seen in macroeconomic terms, Peru appears to be doing just fine, thank you.
    — Daniel Alarcón, New Yorker, 4 June 2026
Definition of nobody
Noun
  • Especially one that’s as buttery-soft and lightweight as this Spanx Crewneck Tee.
    — Melony Forcier, Travel + Leisure, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Perovskites, meanwhile, offer the possibility of lightweight and potentially flexible solar layers that could conform to roofs, hoods and other body panels.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of lightweight
Noun
  • Feeding your turf at the right times through the seasons can result in fewer lawn weeds, fewer insect and disease issues, and better tolerance of drought and temperature extremes.
    — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Barnacles, insects, trout, and arachnids carry evidence of ancient duplications in their genomes.
    — Carrie Arnold Contributing, Quanta Magazine, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of insect
Noun
  • Once a sky-blue democracy is restored, may Trump’s days of infamy be ruled illegitimate and his name and legacy duly tainted by all of history, darkly blackened or cautiously reddened in the honest records that this twerp and his twisted cohorts have conspired so heinously to whitewash.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2026
  • Taking on classic buddy-comedy attributes, Sam is the together one with a programmatic path toward life as a wealthy but hollow finance twerp, while Ari is the brash, cracked, less-medicated-than-he-should-be bull in a china shop.
    — Joe Reid, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2025
Definition of twerp

Browse Nearby Words

whippers
whippersnapper
whippersnappers
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Cite this Entry

“Whippersnapper.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whippersnapper. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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