Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ‘snitty’ after Barr describes Mueller letter

Merriam-Webster Dictionary took to Twitter on Wednesday to define the word “snitty” after Attorney General William Barr used it to describe a letter he received from special counsel Robert Mueller.

In the March letter, which Barr described as “a bit snitty” during his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the special counsel raised concerns about Barr’s characterization of Mueller’s report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Merriam-Webster was quick to pick up on the word trending online Wednesday, tweeting: “To be ‘snitty’ is to be disagreeably ill-tempered. Got it?” 

To be ‘snitty’ is to be disagreeably ill-tempered. Got it? https://t.co/ik2ue0obck

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) May 1, 2019

Barr slammed Mueller’s letter as “probably written by one of his staff people,” and said he asked Mueller: “Bob, what’s with the letter?”

The dictionary’s online site said searches for the word surged 150,000 percent in the aftermath of Barr’s remarks.

Merriam-Webster’s Trend Watch is a “data-driven report on words people are looking up at much higher search rates than normal,” according to its website.

Several political definitions for existing words were recently added by Merriam-Webster, including an updated definition for the term “snowflake.”