snob appeal

American  

noun

1. the attributes of something that appeal to people who associate those qualities with social or intellectual superiority; a thing's attractiveness to snobs.

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Etymology

Origin of snob appeal

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

It has little cachet; it won’t make you rich the way some sports will, and lacks snob appeal, like, say, golf.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 16, 2026

“If it weren’t for the snob appeal of owning swans, we probably wouldn’t have them.”

From Washington Post • Jul. 19, 2018

To call it the Oxford comma gives it a bit of class, a little snob appeal.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 16, 2015

Creating street food with snob appeal is the nouveau-Korean way, but it also coincides with an American bootstrap narrative that starts with poverty and ends with success through hard work and creativity.

From Salon • Apr. 7, 2014

And, of course, Henry and the rest are going along with it out of revenge—they are just plain pissed off because they couldn't win her over with snob appeal.

From Wild Justice by Sprague, Ruth M.