snob

American  

[snob] / snɒb /

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.

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snob British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of snob

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”

Explanation

If your best friend tells you that you've become a snob, he means that you've become condescending and you like to think you're better than everyone else. Of course maybe he's a snob for looking down on your behavior — how annoying! Snob has a funny history. It used be slang for "shoemaker," then "common person," and then came to mean "someone who doesn't have a degree from a fancy university," and then it started to mean "people who liked to pretend they have degrees and are generally fancy and look down on common people like shoemakers." Nowadays, snob isn't only for people with false pretentions. Rich people who despise less tasteful folks are snobs, too.

Example Sentences

My 24-year-old son, who’s kind of a food snob, is like, “There’s a hundred places that are better and cheaper within five minutes of there in the San Gabriel Valley.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026

“I just have to constantly remind myself to not be a snob about it,” she says.

From Salon • Nov. 30, 2025

As a superficial snob who grew up with golden retrievers that deserved Pantene commercials, I had to know: Why are we so into ugly dogs now?

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

"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."

From BBC • Feb. 6, 2025

They tease me for being a food snob, an easy misunderstanding to play along with, but I'm not that picky about what I eat.

From "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour