snub
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
snub¹
- /snʌb/
- /snʊb/ Ireland, Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌb
Where it comes from
From Middle English snubben, snibben (noun), either from an undocumented Old English [Term?] 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.
adjective more snub · most snub · snib
- Conspicuously short. a snub-nosed revolver
- Flat and broad, with the end slightly turned up. It was even less easy to fix the impression in the case of the man at the right end of the table, who, to say truth, was as commonplace a person as could be seen anywhere, with a round, brown-haired head and a round snub nose, but also clad in clerical black, of a stricter cut.
- Derived from a simpler polyhedron by the addition of extra triangular faces.
noun snubs · snib
- A deliberate affront or slight. I hope the people we couldn't invite don't see it as a snub.
- A sudden checking of a cable or rope.
- A knot; a protuberance; a snag. [A club] with ragged snubs and knotty grain.
verb snubs · snubbing · snubbed · snib
-
To slight, ignore or behave coldly toward someone.
When, therefore, the First Secretary sounded him as to the expediency of some step in the direction of a firmer political combination than that at present existing,—by which of course was meant the dethronement of the present Prime Minister,—Mr. Roby had snubbed him!
Similar: give someone the cold shoulder, turn the cold shoulder on someone, cut someone cold, cut someone dead
-
To turn down insultingly; to dismiss.
He snubbed my offer of help.
Similar: rebuff
- To check; to reprimand.
- To stub out (a cigarette etc).
- To halt the movement of a rope etc by turning it about a cleat or bollard etc; to secure a vessel in this manner.
- To clip or break off the end of; to check or stunt the growth of.
snub²
- /snʌb/
- /snʊb/ Ireland, Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌb
Where it 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).
verb snubs · snubbing · snubbed · snib
- To sob with convulsions. He striveth, strugleth, roareth, sobbeth, snubbeth, and ready he is to burst for anger.
Translations
Every language
noun deliberate affront or slight
| Español | desaire |
|---|---|
| Français | camouflet |
| Deutsch | Brüskierung, Affront |
| Italiano | affronto, mancanza di rispetto |
| Русский | пренебрежи́тельное обхожде́ние prenebrežítelʹnoje obxoždénije |
verb to slight, ignore, behave coldly toward
| Español | desairar, hacer un feo |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 鼻であしらわれた |
| Français | snober |
| Deutsch | brüskieren, jemanden vor den Kopf stoßen |
verb to turn down, dismiss
| Français | snober |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | ablehnen, abtun, ausschlagen |
verb to stub out
| Русский | погаси́ть pogasítʹ |
|---|
Talk about this word "snub." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/snub. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. snub. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/snub "snub." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/snub.Cite this
@misc{snub_2026,
title = {snub},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/snub},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
