This week's theme
Words to describe people

This week's words
princox
nincompoop
malingerer
curmudgeon
whippersnapper

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Next week's theme
Yours to discover

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(HWIP-uhr-snap-uhr, WIP-)

MEANING:

noun: A person regarded as unimportant and presumptuous, especially someone young.

ETYMOLOGY:

Perhaps an alteration of whipsnapper, representing noise and uselessness, or an alteration of snippersnapper, similar in sense. Earliest documented use: 1674.

USAGE:

"Young high-flyers find it hard to manage older workers, and older curmudgeons resent being bossed about by whippersnappers."
Age Shall Not Wither Them; The Economist (London, UK); Apr 7, 2011.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: