snowflake
UK /ˈsnəʊ.fleɪk/ · US /ˈsnoʊ.fleɪk/ noun, verb
Forms snowflakes snowflaking snowflaked snow flake snow-flake
- noun A crystal of snow, having approximate hexagonal symmetry.
- noun Any of several bulbous European plants, of the genus Leucojum, having white flowers.
- noun The snow bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis.
- noun (slang, derogatory) Someone who believes they are particularly unique and special.
- noun (slang, derogatory) Someone hypersensitive to insult or offense, especially a young person with politically correct sensibilities.
- noun (ophthalmology) A type of lesion that appears as scattered white-brown spots under high magnification light microscopy.
- noun Something that is unique in every presentation.
- noun (slang, usually derogatory) A Caucasian person.
- verb To fall in the manner of a snowflake.
- verb (computing, databases) To arrange (data) into a snowflake schema.
Synonyms
special snowflake flake snow bunting snowbird Plectrophenax nivalis
Etymology
From snow + flake. Compare Saterland Frisian Sneeflokke (“snowflake”), Dutch sneeuwvlok, Luxembourgish Schnéiflack, German Schneeflocke.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “snowflake”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details