wasp

wasp — noun

1. a flying insect with a narrow waist and yellow-and-black stripes that can inflic

1.nounA2
Definition

a flying insect with a narrow waist and yellow-and-black stripes that can inflict a painful sting.

Example

A wasp flew into the kitchen and landed on the open jam jar.

Isabela got stung by a wasp while picking plums in the garden.

passive: get stung by a wasp

Common collocations
  • wasp sting
  • wasp nest
  • swat a wasp
  • wasp waist
Synonyms
  • hornet

    a larger, more aggressive type of wasp with a thicker body

Grammar Patterns

a/the wasp

wasp + verb

get stung by a wasp

Usage Note

Often confused with bees. Wasps have a narrower waist and smoother body, and unlike honeybees, a wasp can sting more than once.

Common Mistakes

A bee stung me on the arm' (when it was actually a wasp).
A wasp stung me on the arm.
Wasps have thin waists and smooth bodies; bees are rounder, hairier, and usually die after stinging.

2. a white American from a Northern European Protestant background who is considere

2.nounB2
Definition

a white American from a Northern European Protestant background who is considered to belong to the most influential and wealthy group in U.S. society.

Example

The novel explores the quiet power of old WASP families in Boston.

collocation: old WASP families

Many WASP families have shaped American politics and finance for generations.

Common collocations
  • old WASP
  • WASP elite
  • WASP family
  • WASP values
  • WASP culture
Synonyms
  • blue blood

    refers to aristocratic heritage without specifying religion or ethnicity; has a more European feel

  • establishment

    emphasises institutional power and the existing social order rather than ethnic background

Grammar Patterns

a/the WASP

WASP + noun (family, elite, values, culture)

Usage Note

Always written in uppercase (WASP or W.A.S.P.) because it is an acronym. The term is often used critically or analytically to describe a social group seen as holding disproportionate power.

Common Mistakes

He is a white American from California' (when describing his WASP identity).
He comes from an old WASP family in New England.
WASP refers specifically to a cultural subgroup with Northern European Protestant heritage, not to any white American.

Word family

  • waspish
    adjectiveC1
  • waspy
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

WASP specifically denotes white Americans of Northern European Protestant ancestry — a group historically tied to elite boarding schools, Ivy League universities, and Wall Street. 'Blue blood' is broader, referring to noble or upper-class lineage in any country, without religious or ethnic boundaries. 'Establishment' focuses on the institutions and networks that hold power (government, finance, media) rather than the people's ancestry. 'Aristocrat' implies hereditary nobility, which does not formally exist in the United States. For example, 'the Boston Brahmin families are classic WASPs', but 'a British lord is a blue-blooded aristocrat, not a WASP'. WASPs are one part of the American establishment, but the establishment today includes people of many backgrounds.

WASP ↗blue bloodestablishment ↗aristocrat ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

The insect name comes from Old English 'wæsp,' later 'wasp,' from a Germanic root meaning 'to weave' — a reference to the papery nests these insects build. The social sense (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) was coined in the United States in the mid-20th century as an acronym, and has no historical link to the insect word.