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

I can’t help the snark that comes out.

From Literature

And so, when Dubai and other parts of the United Arab Emirates were targeted by some 1,400 Iranian missiles and drones over the past several days, the reaction abroad was often gloating and snark.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

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

Two hugely popular California wines, Caymus Cabernet and the Bordeaux-style red Opus One, are the targets of a fair amount of snark in r/wine.

From The Wall Street Journal