Guttersnipe

//ˈɡʌtɚˌsnaɪp// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person of the lowest social or economic class. dated, derogatory

    "Do not worry, Mrs Kane, we will return you a different boy. The guttersnipe you bring us will not be the boy you get back."

  2. 2
    a child who spends most of their time in the streets especially in slum areas wordnet
  3. 3
    A street urchin. archaic, derogatory

    "Never lose a chance: it doesnt come everyday. I shall make a duchess of this draggletailed guttersnipe."

  4. 4
    A broker who sold securities in the street. US, derogatory, obsolete, slang

Synonyms

All synonyms
street urchinarabarrivistebabbittbeach bumbeachcomber

Example

More examples

"Do not worry, Mrs Kane, we will return you a different boy. The guttersnipe you bring us will not be the boy you get back."

Etymology

From gutter + snipe.

Related phrases

street urchin

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