snaky

[ sney-kee ]

adjective

snakier, snakiest.

1. of or relating to snakes.
2. abounding in snakes, as a place.
3. snakelike; twisting, winding, or sinuous.
4. venomous; treacherous or insidious:

   a snaky remark.

5. consisting of, entwined with, or bearing a representation of snakes or serpents, as a ring.
6. Australian Informal. irritable, angry, or spiteful.

snaky

/ ˈsneɪkɪ /

adjective

1. of or like a snake; sinuous
2. treacherous or insidious
3. infested with snakes
4. informal.
   angry or bad-tempered

Derived Forms

• ˈsnakily, adverb
• ˈsnakiness, noun

Other Word Forms

• snaki·ly adverb
• snaki·ness noun
• un·snaky adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of snaky¹

First recorded in 1560–70; snake + -y ¹

Example Sentences

"So when everyone's talking about snaky hips and stuff, you know what, bring it on. Any opportunity, I'm throwing it."

From BBC

Meet the anhinga, a large water bird with a snaky neck that has joined other high-profile vagrant birds in recent years by making a rare appearance outside of its typical migration range.

From New York Times

We’ll spell out the first few routes; after that, if you can’t figure out some snaky path of adjacent states, see this week’s Style Conversational — or just look at a U.S. map.

From Washington Post

Usually, I tracked my location counting bends in the snaky river, my time watching the clouds shift, and my fortune spotting golden eagles.

From Salon

To flip through the pages of a 13th century manuscript, one might believe the medieval era was beleaguered by more snaky dragons and man-murdering bunnies than temperamental tween girls.

From New York Times