Snippy describes a person answering you in short, sharp pieces because they are annoyed. Picture someone who normally says "Sure, I'll look at it in a minute" and instead says "Fine." — nothing but the shortest possible words, delivered with an edge. That shortness is the heart of the word; the annoyance shows in what is missing, not in shouting. It often appears as be snippy or get snippy, frequently with with: don't get snippy with me. There is a second flavour, especially from a younger person to someone older or in charge: a snippy answer refuses to be polite and quietly refuses to obey. It is informal, common in American English, and mild — you call your friend snippy for being short with the waiter, and it can even be affectionate. Two useful notes on register. First, it says nothing about volume: a snippy reply can be very quiet. Second, English has a habit of using cutting words for sharp speech — snippy, cutting, clipped, sharp — and snippy belongs to that family of pictures.

沒好氣的、口氣衝的、愛理不理的。就是那種被惹到之後只丟你兩三個字、語氣帶刺的回話；「你幹嘛對我這麼衝？」就是 don't get snippy with me。偏美式口語，程度不重，有時甚至帶點親暱。