snark

¹ American  

[snahrk] / snɑrk /

noun

1. a mysterious, imaginary animal.

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snark ² American  

[snahrk] / snɑrk /

verb (used without object)

1. to be critical in a rude or sarcastic way.

   to snark about the neighbors.

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noun

1. rude or sarcastic criticism.

Etymology

Origin of snark¹

First recorded in 1876; coined by Lewis Carroll in his poem The Hunting of the Snark

Origin of snark²

First recorded in 1910–15; dialectal snark “to nag, find fault with”; apparently identical with snark, snork “to snort, snore,” probably from Dutch, Low German snorken “to snore”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

snark

I don’t mean to snark at your pain when I say this, but that presumption was your first mistake.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

Though we hear him get hound-dogged by nosy questions from the press, the closest Elvis comes to snark is when he sits on a stool to play “Little Sister.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026

Snappiness and snark are hallmarks of his earliest series, but eventually Tartakovsky realized that the barrage of dialogue allowed audiences to understand what was going on without feeling it.

From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2026

You’ll read snark from a body-for-squash nerd in a financial newspaper and think: When did The Wall Street Journal get a sports section?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026

Mom’s face showed the shock I felt at my unintentional snark.

From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence