guttersnipe

noun

gut·​ter·​snipe ˈgə-tər-ˌsnīp How to pronounce guttersnipe (audio)
plural guttersnipes
1
old-fashioned : a person who wanders from place to place with no permanent place of residence
especially : an outcast boy or girl in the streets of a city
2
a
: a person of the lowest economic status
The beloved story takes guttersnipe Eliza, a Cockney flower seller, from the street outside Covent Garden to the bachelor digs of Higgins, a linguist who claims he can change her life by changing her pronunciation and cleaning her up a bit.Susan Haubenstock
b
: a person of low moral character
… fervent he was, as well as intemperate, … and a political guttersnipe when it suited his purposes.Hodding Carter III
guttersnipish adjective

Did you know?

"Unfurl yourselves under my banner, noble savages, illustrious guttersnipes," wrote Mark Twain sometime around 1869. Twain was among the first writers to use guttersnipe for a young hoodlum or street urchin. In doing so, he was following a trend among writers of the time to associate gutter (a low area at the side of a road) with a low station in life. Other writers in the late 19th century used guttersnipe more literally as a name for certain kinds of snipes, or birds with long thin beaks that live in wet areas. Gutter-bird was another term that was used for both birds and disreputable persons. And even snipe itself has a history as a term of opprobrium; it was used as such during William Shakespeare's day.

Examples of guttersnipe in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Seeing my friend so comfortable in comfort, my old guttersnipe buddy who’d once lived for years in actual squalor, felt odd. Lauren Groff, The Atlantic, 28 Sep. 2024 Our point-of-entry into the world of competitive bloodsport is Tenax (Iwan Rheon, better than the inconsistent writing), a former guttersnipe who has risen to control a wildly successful gambling concern tied to the chariot races in the Circus Maximus. Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 July 2024 And looking back sadly, the United States will probably never have another halcyon period like that to squander with minimalist ambitions and guttersnipe politics about nothing. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 27 June 2022 The guttersnipes have outfoxed the plutocrats, for once. Kyle Smith, National Review, 3 Oct. 2019 They are barred from using certain language during debates including git, guttersnipe, swine and stool pigeon. Max Colchester, WSJ, 3 Jan. 2019 From the massive success of post-grunge rockers Stone Temple Pilots to commercial guttersnipe supergroup Velvet Revolver, singer Scott Weiland's expansive talent cast a long shadow. Katherine Turman, Esquire, 4 Dec. 2015 There were no sound and light shows, no teenage haute guttersnipes, no thumbing his nose at the rules. Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2016

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1869, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of guttersnipe was circa 1869

Podcast

Dictionary Entries Near guttersnipe

Cite this Entry

“Guttersnipe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guttersnipe. Accessed 9 Nov. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on guttersnipe

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!