Meanings
adjectivewapper-jawed (comparative more wapper-jawed, superlative most wapper-jawed)
comparative more wapper-jawed · superlative most wapper-jawed
- Having a projecting underjaw.First known use mid-19th c.
Fancy an heir, that a father had seen born well-featured and fair, turning suddenly wry-nosed, club-footed, squint-eyed, hare-lipped, wapper-jawed, car rot-haired, from a pride become an aversion, — my case was yet worse.
1848, James Russell Lowell, A Fable for Critics, G. P. Putnam's Sons, page 5
Origin
Earliest known use is from 1848 (see quotation).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
wapper-jawed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wapper-jawed
MLA
“wapper-jawed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wapper-jawed. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wapper-jawed,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wapper-jawed.
Source: wapper-jawed on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.