whippersnappern.
/ˈwɪpəˌsnapə/, U.S. /ˈ(h)wɪpərˌsnæpər/ A diminutive or insignificant person, esp. a sprightly or impertinent young fellow. Also rarely applied to a thing. †In quot. 1674 apparently: A violent or dangerous person, a ‘rough’: cf. quot. 1590 at whipster n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily height > shortness > [noun] > person
dwarfeOE
congeonc1230
go-by-ground?a1300
smalla1300
shrimpc1386
griga1400
gruba1400
murche1440
nirvil1440
mitinga1450
witherling1528
wretchocka1529
elf1530
hop-o'-my-thumb1530
pygmy1533
little person1538
manikin1540
mankin1552
dandiprat1556
yrle1568
grundy1570
Jack Sprat1570
squall1570
manling1573
Tom Thumb1579
pinka1585
squib1586
screaling1594
giant-dwarf1598
twattle1598
agate1600
minimus1600
cock sparrow1602
dapperling1611
modicum1611
scrub1611
sesquipedalian1615
dwarflinga1618
wretchcock1641
homuncio1643
whip-handle1653
homuncule1656
whippersnapper1674
chitterling1675
sprite1684
carliea1689
urling1691
wirling1691
dwarf man1699
poppet1699
durgan1706
short-arse1706
tomtit1706
Lilliputian1726
wallydraigle1736
midge1757
minikin1761
squeeze-crab1785
minimum1796
niff-naff1808
titman1818
teetotum1822
squita1825
cradden1825
nyaff1825
weed1825
pinkeen1850
fingerling1864
Lilliput1867
thumbling1867
midget1869
inch1884
shorty1888
titch1888
skimpling1890
stub1890
scrap1898
pygmoid1922
lofty1933
peewee1935
smidgen1952
pint-size1954
pint-sized1973
munchkin1974
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > of little importance
nekardc1450
man of clouts, king of clouts1467
dandiprat1556
Tom Thumb1579
minim1590
pygmy?1592
titmouse1596
gnatling1614
rye straw1615
nazzard1619
whisk1629
whifling1640
snifty1660
whippersnapper1674
nick-ninny1699
little me1711
squita1825
lightweight1831
lay figure1835
whiffet1839
pinkeen1850
huckleberry1868
bush leaguer1906
knibloch1915
the mind > emotion > pride > impudence > [noun] > impudent person > young man
princock1540
puppy?1544
skipjack1554
pup1590
whelp1611
whisk1629
whippersnapper1674
whiffet1839
Jack the Lad1968
Essex man1990
1674 R. Head Jackson's Recantation sig. C2v Have a care of Marlbrough Downs, there are a parcel of whipper Snappers have been very busie there of late.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Whipper-snapper, a very small but sprightly Boy.
1700 T. Brown Amusem. Serious & Comical xi. 136 A Grave Old Gentleman..thus repremanded our Saucy Whipper-Snapper.
1827 W. Scott Surgeon's Daughter in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. II. iii. 91 A whipper-snapper of an attorney's apprentice,..I'll teach him to speak with more reverence of the learned professions.
1840 W. M. Thackeray Paris Sketch Bk. I. 29 Not that he feared such fellows as these—little whipper-snappers—our men would eat them.
a1865 E. C. Gaskell Wives & Daughters (1866) I. xxii. 254 A little whipper-snapper of a French watch.
1876 W. Black Madcap Violet xxxviii It is only the whipper-snapper in criticism who is always crying out for a grand and tremendous motive.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1674