a. [f. SNIP v. Cf. Du. snippig (Fris. snippich) snappish.]
1. dial. Parsimonious, mean; covetous.
1727. Bailey (vol. II.), Snippy, parcimonious, niggardly.
1825–. in dial. glossaries, etc. (Eng. Dial. Dict.).
2. dial. and colloq. Fault-finding, snappish, sharp.
1848. Bartlett, Dict. Amer., 318. Snippy. Finical; and substantively, a finical person. A woman’s word.
1887. Gunter, Mr. Barnes, xx. So dictatorial!… And so snippy!
1896. J. K. Bangs, in Harper’s Mag., June, 23/2. She’s too snippy for me.
3. Scrappy, fragmentary, snippety.
1886. Pall Mall Gaz., 20 May, 2/1. Paragraphs and very short articles which may fairly be regarded as ‘snippy’ bits.
