Snowflake
Etymology
Builds on "special snowflake," rooted in the reassurance that "everyone is unique, like a snowflake." A cynical inversion mocking that reassurance was popularized by the novel and film Fight Club ("You are not a special snowflake"), and by around 2016 "snowflake" had become a political insult, chiefly aimed at younger progressives. It is now a contested pejorative traded across political lines.
noun · /SNOH-flayk/
A derisive term for someone regarded as overly sensitive, fragile, or easily offended.
What it names
It names the accusation that a person cannot tolerate disagreement or discomfort — and, folded into it, the older idea that they’ve been raised to believe themselves uniquely special.
Example
Calling everyone who disagrees with you a snowflake is its own kind of thin skin.
Related idea
Overlaps with triggered: both mock perceived over-sensitivity, but snowflake labels the person while triggered mocks the reaction.
See also