snarky

[ snahr-kee ]

adjective

, snark·i·er, snark·i·est.

1. testy or irritable; short.
2. having a rudely critical tone or manner:

   snarky humor.

snarky

/ ˈsnɒːkɪ /

adjective

1. informal.
   unpleasant and scornful

Other Words From

• snarki·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of snarky¹

snark ² + -y ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of snarky¹

C20: from sarcastic + nasty

Example Sentences

Neither snarky frenemies nor lonely achievers, these characters can achieve their dreams only by building one another up.

From Time

Social media has made it very easy for me to hide behind a layer of detachment and be a little snarky.

From Time

Any motion — going to work, coming home from school, chasing a ball, unloading groceries — unleashes a torrent of strobe lights, monkey noises and a snarky TV-show dialogue heavy on racial slurs.

From Washington Post

As someone who enjoyed the comic, this adaptation choice initially struck me as slightly perverse — it’s so dour — but I grew to admire it as the show began to introduce the comic’s semi-snarky tone.

From Vox

Then time almost immediately skips forward to a point when it’s safe for the story’s “last man” cis guy protagonist to go on semi-snarky adventures through a United States in the process of rebuilding.

From Vox

“Some of those people who were snarky about it might have wanted to be part of it,” she says.

From The Daily Beast

And then you'd whip out your iPhone and pull up that snarky tweet your friend wrote linking to the E!

From The Daily Beast

The opening monologue was packed with witty—and in some cases, snarky—jokes.

From The Daily Beast

And thanks to camera phones and Twitter, the media megaphone and its ability to be snarky is at an all-time high.

From The Daily Beast

I could always call on Alex for a quote that would be clever but honest and sharp but not snarky.

From The Daily Beast

I say, Luke leant forward confidentially across the rickety green tin table, you know how snarky Pater was about him?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cynical
• snide