Snug Meaning
/snʌɡ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjWarm and comfortable; cosy.
adjSatisfactory.
Sentence Examples
The snow keeps the young plants snug and warm.
Tom is snug in his sleeping bag.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
After putting on a thick sweater, she felt warm and ____ near the fire.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The little kitten felt safe and ____ in its soft new bed next to the warm radiator.
Word Origin & History
From dialectal English snug (“tight, handsome”), perhaps from Old Norse snøggr, from Proto-Germanic *snawwuz (“short, quick, fast”). Compare Icelandic snöggur (“smooth”), Danish snög (“neat”), Swedish snygg (“handsome, nice-looking”). Compare also English snudge (“to nestle, remain snug and quiet”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Now, if in a stage coach in the depth of winter, when three passengers are warm and snug, a fourth, all besnowed and frozen, descends from the outside and takes place amongst them, straightway all the three passengers shift their places, uneasily pull up their cloak collars, re-arrange their "comforters," feel indignantly a sensible loss of caloric—the intruder has at least made a sensation."
— 1848 April – 1849 October, E[dward] Bulwer-Lytton, chapter I, in The Caxtons: A Family Picture, volume II, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1849, →OCLC, part IX, page 88:
"I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury, or in any way draws down public applause; but, in the cool tranquillity of a snug retreat, do a snug business among rich men's bonds, and mortgages, and title-deeds."
— 1853, Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener”, in The Piazza Tales, New York: Dix, Edwards & Co, published 1856:
"That night Tarzan built a snug little bower high among the swaying branches of a giant tree, and there the tired girl slept, while in a crotch beneath her the ape-man curled, ready, even in sleep, to protect her."
— 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 214:
"[I]t does make it clear that adding the keyboard case to the PinePhone will more than double the thickness. You may still be able to slide the whole thing into your pocket, but it’s likely to be more of a snug fit than when using the phone on its own."
— 2021 April 23, Brad Linder, “PinePhone keyboard prototype transforms the Linux phone into a tiny Linux laptop”, in Linux Smartphones:
"Be ſure at Will’s the following Day, / Lie ſnug, and hear what Criticks ſay."
— 1733, [Jonathan Swift], On Poetry: A Rapsody, Dublin; London: […] [R. Fleming] [a]nd sold by J. Huggonson, […], →OCLC, page 9, lines 116–117:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After putting on a thick sweater, she felt warm and ____ near the fire.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The little kitten felt safe and ____ in its soft new bed next to the warm radiator.