snob

[snob]

noun

1. a person who imitates, cultivates, or slavishly admires social superiors and is condescending or overbearing to others.

2. a person who claims to be an expert or connoisseur in a given field and is condescending toward or disdainful of those who hold other opinions or have different tastes regarding this field.

   a musical snob.

snob

/ snɒb /

noun

1. 1. a person who strives to associate with those of higher social status and who behaves condescendingly to others Compare inverted snob

   2. ( as modifier )

      snob appeal

2. a person having similar pretensions with regard to his tastes, etc

   an intellectual snob

Other Word Forms

• antisnob noun
• snobbishly adverb
• snobbery noun
• snobbishness noun
• snobby adjective
• snobbish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of snob¹

First recorded in 1775–85; origin uncertain; first used as a nickname for “a cobbler or cobbler's apprentice,” hence “a townsman, someone of low class or lacking good breeding, commoner,” hence ”someone who imitates persons of higher rank”

Word History and Origins

Origin of snob¹

C18 (in the sense: shoemaker; hence, C19: a person who flatters those of higher station, etc): of unknown origin

Example Sentences

All four are such shallow snobs that they can’t imagine why Ivy would want to own Julia Child’s old stove when it’s, well, old.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Daniels didn’t have the prestige TV snobs behind him either.

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I may get called a food snob on occasion, but that intended insult does not sting.

Read more on Salon

"Amanda's an awful woman, of course," he said, "a backstabbing snob who treats her children as accessories and turns every encounter with her 'mum chums' at the school gates into a blood sport."

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As his luxury item, he selected a coffee machine, saying that he had become a "coffee snob" recently.

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