Word.ws English Dictionary

special snowflake syndrome

special snowflake syndrome noun: the conviction that one (or often one's child) is, in some way, special and should therefore be treated differently from others.

Noun

special snowflake syndrome (uncountable)

  1. (derogatory) The conviction that one (or often one's child) is, in some way, special and should therefore be treated differently from others.
    • Although we all like to think we are unique and experience the world in our own way—we all have a touch of the Special Snowflake Syndrome—people are in fact more alike than different.2014, Douglas O. Linder, Nancy Levit, The Good Lawyer: Seeking Quality in the Practice of Law, page 181
    • America is plagued by the disease of Special Snowflake Syndrome. This is a contracted condition that afflicts the ego; it's where we believe ourselves to be utterly unique and better than everyone else.2015, Jacob D. Myers, Making Love with Scripture

Origin of special snowflake syndrome

From the idea that every snowflake has a unique structure. Compare snowflake (“someone who believes they are as unique and special as a snowflake”).

Questions about special snowflake syndrome

What does special snowflake syndrome mean?
Special snowflake syndrome means the conviction that one (or often one's child) is, in some way, special and should therefore be treated differently from others.
What part of speech is special snowflake syndrome?
Special snowflake syndrome is a noun.

Words near special snowflake syndrome in the dictionary

  1. special session
  2. special sessions
  3. special situation
  4. special situations
  5. special snowflake
  6. special snowflake syndrome
  7. special snowflakes
  8. special someone
  9. special someones
  10. special stage
  11. special stages

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: special snowflake syndrome (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “special snowflake syndrome.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/special_snowflake_syndrome. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.