snarky
Americanadjective
-
testy or irritable; short.
-
having a rudely critical tone or manner.
snarky humor.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of snarky
Explanation
A snarky comment is sarcastic and impertinent. It would be snarky to roll your eyes and yawn loudly while your friend is telling you the plot of a movie they really enjoyed. Snarky originally meant "cranky or bad-tempered." By the end of the 20th century, it took on the additional meaning of "irreverent or contemptuous." When you say something snarky, you're probably trying to be funny, but in a biting or mean way. If you're tempted to leave snarky comments on a website or whisper something snarky to your friend about a classmate, you may want to consider the adage, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all!"
Vocabulary lists containing snarky
Falling Short
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Merci Suárez Plays It Cool
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Just Right Jillian
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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.
The podcast they started years later was snarky and sharp but less polished.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
While there are still "snarky one-liners" and moments of wit in the sequel, the characters find themselves in a "whole new landscape", Blunt says.
From BBC • May 1, 2026
The Girl Bosses, the pussy-hatted women at the “Women’s March,” the snarky bloggers and the comment section warriors and Lindy West herself—these were never the whole of millennial feminism.
From Slate • Mar. 31, 2026
If snarky remarks are emailed or direct-messaged to you, screenshot and print them out.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 28, 2026
All I really knew about her was that she had the most amazing leg extension I’d ever seen, the highest scores in our grade, and she was snarky.
From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio
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.
