snotty
Americanadjective
-
Vulgar. of or relating to snot.
-
Informal. snobbish; arrogant; supercilious.
a snotty kid.
adjective
-
dirty with nasal discharge
-
slang contemptible; nasty
-
snobbish; conceited
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of snotty
Explanation
When someone is arrogant or stuck-up, you might describe them as snotty. You'll get in trouble if you answer your teacher's question in a snotty voice. If you're new at school, you may imagine there will be snotty kids who won't let you sit with them at lunch—it'll be a pleasant surprise when they turn out to be friendly and welcoming. Snotty can also mean "clogged with mucus," like a crying toddler's snotty nose. This sniffly meaning was first recorded in the 1560s, while the "snobby" one came along almost three hundred years later.
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.
See Examples For:
A strong constitution also helps, faced with the hacking coughs and snotty noses of a particularly bad flu' season.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025
"There are thousands of them together, all coughing and splattering," Bamford said, adding that the seals are also particularly "snotty".
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
Predictably, there’s a storm of fascination around Cignetti, and the snotty assumption that some bumbling Goliath like Penn State or Florida State will helicopter in with a Godfather offer and seduce the Hoosier coach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025
The former frontman of dance-punk act Ima Robot felt he’d built up too many walls around himself and was acting in accordance with expectations of a snotty rockstar.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2025
It was a wild boar, thirty feet high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes.
From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan
When I was younger and a good deal snottier, my friends and I made ranking movie trailers part of our theater-going experience.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2022
Thing is, my husband is much snottier than I am, though everyone thinks he’s charming.
From New York Times ● May 21, 2010
I weep my ugliest, snottiest cry at an awkward intersection, looking for the place where Blockbuster used to be, happy that the library is still there.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2025
I got the snottiest, most hateful text from my daughter-in-law stating the reason was that it was not my place to post, and why would I do this without asking, etc.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 1, 2023
This from Wanda Kay Moore, the snottiest, who sat immediately in front of Jesse.
From "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson
“It’s for a really good cause,” Stephanie says in her snottiest tone.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
Two seats up from where he sat, Mary Lou Peoples was at work being the second snottiest girl in the fifth grade.
From "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson
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.
