Other Word Forms
- snobbishly adverb
- snobbishness noun
- unsnobbish adjective
- unsnobbishly adverb
- unsnobbishness noun
Etymology
Origin of snobbish
Explanation
Someone who's snobbish makes it clear that he thinks he's better than most other people. Your snobbish cousin might refuse to borrow your rain coat because it looks "cheap." If you're snobbish, you believe there are different social classes of people, and that you belong to the highest one. A snobbish person might think that graduating from a certain college makes him better than others, or that having more money makes him superior to those with less. The root is snob, which evolved from meaning "shoemaker" in 1700's Britain to being university slang for "ordinary person who apes his social superiors" to "one who despises those he considers inferior."
Vocabulary lists containing snobbish
The Catcher in the Rye
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Ten Most Relevant Words: The Great Gatsby, Chapter 1
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Born a Crime
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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.
It’s been broadly debated whether the novel actually is a love story between the snobbish Cathy and the glowering Heathcliff.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2026
The snobbish sommelier is a relic from the past—a figure from a less-enlightened time in wine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
The critique felt not just snobbish, but oddly incurious, a misreading of cakes that are, at heart, celebrations of joy.
From Salon • Aug. 2, 2025
Film critic Siobhan Synnot called Margolyes's comments "snobbish", adding: "Classic children's films may speak to adults too, it's about ambition, sophistication and quality, not age range".
From BBC • Mar. 15, 2024
She wanted to know everything about me and wasn't snobbish or anything.
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
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.
