noun, slang ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Any of certain of snakes having a copper-colored head in three families within suborder Serpentes.; A venomous pit viper of species Agkistrodon contortrix, found in parts of North America.
2. 2
   A northerner who sympathized with the South or wanted to end hostilities during the American Civil War. US, historical, slang
3. 3
   venomous but sluggish reddish-brown snake of Australia wordnet
4. 4
   Any of certain of snakes having a copper-colored head in three families within suborder Serpentes.; A water moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorus)
5. 5
   Any member of the Democratic party. US, derogatory, historical

Show 5 more definitions

6. 6
   common coppery brown pit viper of upland eastern United States wordnet
7. 7
   Any of certain of snakes having a copper-colored head in three families within suborder Serpentes.; A Chinese copperhead (Deinagkistrodon acutus), a venomous pit viper species found in Southeast Asia
8. 8
   Any of certain of snakes having a copper-colored head in three families within suborder Serpentes.; Any Australian copperhead (Austrelaps spp.), a venomous elapid found in southern Australia and Tasmania.
9. 9
   Any of certain of snakes having a copper-colored head in three families within suborder Serpentes.; A copperhead rat snake (Coelognathus radiatus, syn. Elaphe radiata), a non-venomous colubrid species found in southern Asia.
10. 10
    Someone with ginger hair. derogatory

Synonyms

All synonyms

agkistrodon contortrixdenisonia superbapeace democratred oakred oakredhead

Etymology

Etymology 1

From copper + head.

Etymology 2

After the dangerous copperhead snake, to which propagandists of the Republican Party compared Democrats interested in appeasement.

Related phrases

agkistrodon contortrixamerican civil warpit viper

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.