snazzy

English

WOTD – 2 July 2025

Etymology

Origin unknown;[1] the following etymologies have been suggested:

Pronunciation

Adjective

snazzy (comparative snazzier, superlative snazziest) (originally US, slang)

  1. Appealing or stylish in appearance or manner; classy, flashy.
    Synonyms: cool, smart
    • 1952, John Wyndham [pseudonym; John Wyndham Harris], “Dumb Martian”, in The Seeds of Time, London: Michael Joseph, published November 1974, →ISBN, page 214:
      [Y]ou come here with your ritzy ways and your snazzy talk, and right from the start you start shoving your nose into things that aren't your business.
    • 1999 October, “Reviews [review of Alison Kraus’s Forget About It (1999)]”, in Alan Light, editor, Spin, volume 15, number 10, New York, N.Y.: Camouflage Associates, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 155, column 1:
      The snazziest tune here is another murmuring cover—this time, Todd Rundgren's "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference."
    • 2022 September 21, Brendan Rice, “Ready for Inspection”, in Rail, number 966, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 61:
      Their interiors will also be repainted, while the non-instrumented area of the coach, which contains only a few seats, will be made to "look snazzy".
    1. Of a person: elegant in dressing; of clothes: elegant, fashionable.
      Synonyms: dapper, natty, pizazzy
      Antonyms: inelegant, scruffy, sloppy
      a snazzy dresser
      • 1922 November 12, “Using wool clothes before cold comes”, in The Duluth Sunday News Tribune, volume 54, number 183, Duluth, Minn.: News Tribune Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7, column 2:
        "Men come in and have no hesitancy about buying jazzbo neckties, "snazzy" collars, passianate[sic – meaning passionate?] hats or thunderous hosiery, but they lower their voices and cast their eyes from side to side to avoid detection when they say they want to purchase a two-ply undergarment," said one local gents furnishing merchant. "One would think they were giving an order to their pet bootlegger," he added.
      • 1927 September 20, “Dad is anxious to see what s[tyles?] in high school: Casts anxious eye on school mode; short slickers are due”, in Corvallis Gazette-Times, volume XIX, number 118, Corvallis, Or.: C[laude] E. Ingalls; Myron K. Myers; Charles A. Sprague, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1, column 6:
        Last year Chinese coolie coats were the rage, along with snazzy neckties and boyish bobs. This year "all the girls" will let their hair grow and move their waistline from the hips to some point just under the arms in princess style.
      • 1971, Brian W[ilson] Aldiss, “Book 2: The Old Five-fingered Widow”, in A Soldier Erect, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, →OCLC, page 115:
        'Well, I see you're all togged up, Stubby-lad!', exclaimed Di, patting me jovially on the shoulder. 'It's really snazzy you look!'
      • 2000 September 23, Alev Aktar, “Tailor made goes: Fashion week closes with Calvin [Klein], Donna [Karan] and Vera [Wang]”, in New York Daily News‎[1], Jersey City, N.J.: Daily News Enterprises, published 11 January 2019, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 June 2025:
        One particularly snazzy outfit consisted of vertically striped pants paired with a horizontally striped and sequined top.
  2. Adept or ingenious in behaviour or operation; excellent, nifty.
    Synonyms: (informal) cool, smart
    Antonyms: (coarse slang) crappy, duff, (especially US, informal) lame, (informal) naff, (informal) rubbishy
    • 1938 April 17, Jane Murdock, “Friday afternoon dances”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page PY8:
      Those Friday afternoon dances in the gym are really snazzy.
    • 2009 January 8, Suzanne Choney, “Palm Unveils Pre Smartphone Device, New OS: Company Looks to Get Back in Race with Research in Motion, Apple”, in MSNBC‎[2], archived from the original on 21 January 2009:
      Certainly, of those migrating to the iPhone from other devices, a good number of them are former Treo users who found Apple's device to be a souped-up, snazzier and even easier-to-use version of the Treo.

Translations

References

  1. ^ “snazzy, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2025; “snazzy, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “snazzy, adj.”, in Collins English Dictionary.

Further reading

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