What does "snub" mean?
A deliberate affront or slight.
Snub
/snʌb/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A deliberate affront or slight.
- Grammar: snub is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: cold shoulder, rebuff, abbreviate, abbreviated.
- Useful contrasts: acknowledge, compliment, congratulations.
- Usage evidence: The little boy has a snub nose.
How to use "snub"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "snub" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "snub" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "snub" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "snub" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "snub" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "cold shoulder" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "snub", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A deliberate affront or slight.
"I hope the people we couldn't invite don't see it as a snub."
- 2 a refusal to recognize someone you know wordnet
- 3 A sudden checking of a cable or rope.
- 4 an instance of driving away or warding off wordnet
- 5 A knot; a protuberance; a snag. obsolete
"[A club] with ragged snubs and knotty grain."
Verb
- 1 To slight, ignore or behave coldly toward someone. transitive
"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!"
- 2 To sob with convulsions.
"He striveth, strugleth, roareth, sobbeth, snubbeth, and ready he is to burst for anger."
- 3 reject outright and bluntly wordnet
- 4 To turn down insultingly; to dismiss. transitive
"He snubbed my offer of help."
- 5 refuse to acknowledge wordnet
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 To check; to reprimand. transitive
- 7 To stub out (a cigarette etc). transitive
- 8 To halt the movement of a rope etc by turning it about a cleat or bollard etc; to secure a vessel in this manner. transitive
- 9 To clip or break off the end of; to check or stunt the growth of. transitive
Adjective
- 1 Conspicuously short.
"a snub-nosed revolver"
- 2 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."
- 3 Derived from a simpler polyhedron by the addition of extra triangular faces.
Adjective
- 1 unusually short wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The little boy has a snub nose."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "snub"?
Common synonyms include: cold shoulder, rebuff, abbreviate, abbreviated, abridge, abridged.
How do you use "snub" in a sentence?
The little boy has a snub nose.
How do you pronounce "snub"?
Pronounced /snʌb/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English snubben (also snibben), from Old Norse snubba (“to curse, chide, snub, scold, reprove”), which, like the source of English snip, is probably imitative in some manner. Cognate with Danish snibbe, dialectal Swedish snebba.
Etymology 2
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).