snickerdoodle

noun

snick·​er·​doo·​dle ˈsni-kər-ˌdü-dᵊl How to pronounce snickerdoodle (audio)
plural snickerdoodles
: a cookie that is made with usually butter, sugar, and flour and that is rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking

Examples of snickerdoodle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Inspired by a warm cinnamon snickerdoodle, with layers of snickerdoodle cookie batter gelato, cinnamon cookie pieces, snickerdoodle cookie batter, Madagascan vanilla gelato, and cinnamon cookie pieces. —Lauren Thomann, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Mar. 2025 There are morning buns, muffins, chocolate-buckwheat cookies and vegan snickerdoodles ($3.25 each). —Linda Zavoral, The Mercury News, 24 Mar. 2025 Here's how to make a half-dozen foolproof cookie recipes, including chocolate chip cookies, lemon bars and snickerdoodles. —The Arizona Republic, 28 Nov. 2024 From snickerdoodles to bake-and-ice sugar cookies, no-bake peanut butter bites to lemon bars, here are half a dozen cookie recipes to make this holiday season. —Robin Miller, The Arizona Republic, 29 Nov. 2024 See All Example Sentences for snickerdoodle

Word History

Etymology

probably a fanciful coinage, from snicker entry 2 + doodle "doodlebug" (though without clear semantic connection to either word)

Note: An alternative etymology derives the word from Palatinate German dialect Schneckennudel, Scheckennurel, Schleckenurrl "sweet pastry made from yeast dough twisted into a spiral" (from Schnecken "snail" and Nudel "dough in various forms"), with variants in other dialects (Baden, Swabia, Saarland). However, none of these words appear to have surfaced in 19th-century American English, and early attestations of snickerdoodle do not suggest a German-American connection.

First Known Use

1889, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of snickerdoodle was in 1889

Rhymes for snickerdoodle

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Browse Nearby Words

snicker
snickerdoodle
snickeringly
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Cite this Entry

“Snickerdoodle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snickerdoodle. Accessed 19 Apr. 2025.

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