snide
Americanadjective
adjective
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Also: snidey. (of a remark, etc) maliciously derogatory; supercilious
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counterfeit; sham
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of snide
First recorded in 1860–65; origin uncertain
Explanation
Snide means insulting or contemptuous in an indirect way. If your friend is wearing too much purple eye shadow and your other friend whispers to you, “What? Was she in a car wreck?” that’s a snide comment. Snide remarks are the kinds of things people say with a sneer on their face. When you leave a movie theater and your friend says, “I can’t believe someone was actually paid to write that screenplay,” he’s being snide. Instead of saying, “That movie was terrible,” he's expressing his disdain in a more underhanded and indirect way.
Vocabulary lists containing snide
10 Words that Inspired Taylor Swift
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The Stranger
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I don’t read Swedish, so I’m unsure how to apportion credit for beautiful sentences, but they abound: Snide comments are “tiny puffs of marsh gas.”
From New York Times • Jul. 12, 2022
And his songs, written by Eef Barzelay of the alt-country band Clem Snide, comfortably occupy the hazy stylistic territory in which Ethan, who suggests a less gifted Ryan Adams, operates.
From New York Times • Oct. 27, 2011
Snide and thunderous on the air, Madigan at home in his lakefront high-rise is a man of quiet humor, Irish-pol anecdotes and a smile as wide as the Dan Ryan Expressway.
From Time Magazine Archive
Snide item in smug, smartaleck gossip column: Saucers are passé at the Pentagon.
From Project Mastodon by Simak, Clifford D.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
