snobby
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of snobby
Explanation
Snobby people think they're better than others. A snobby club might only allow members who dress a certain way or attend a certain school, excluding everyone else. Some snobby people are wealthy and believe that those who have less are inferior, while other snobby folks are smart and well-educated, and look down on people who are uneducated. Snobby is an informal word that describes a snob, which originally meant "a shoemaker or a shoemaker's apprentice." From that meaning it evolved through "lowly person" to "lowly person imitating a social superior" and finally "person who despises those considered inferior."
Vocabulary lists containing snobby
Keep It Together, Keiko Carter
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Katt vs. Dogg
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The Great Greene Heist
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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.
Cue another round of snobby harrumphing about the inclusion of non-Power 4 schools like James Madison and Tulane, as if those schools play on crabgrass fields with dirt patches and donkeys.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 8, 2025
“I think we can all be a bit snobby in the fashion business and think, maybe this is, you know, a side gig,” Wintour said in the doc.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 10, 2025
The movie was loosely inspired by Vogue and Anna Wintour’s reign, and former staffers have said the long hours and snobby, high-pressure hierarchy weren’t far off from real life.
From Salon • Aug. 17, 2025
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray, who is an Edinburgh MP, described the remarks as "classist and snobby".
From BBC • Aug. 9, 2025
“Lian and Samaira make all the rules, and they're always hosting parties. All the snobby girls come over to gossip.”
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
