Snob
a person who imitates, cultivates, or slavishly admires social superiors and is condescending or overbearing to others.
a person who believes himself or herself 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.
Contemporary Examples
And before you think I’m some Chanel-only snob, I offer this advice as a fan of street and flea markets.
Gal With a Suitcase Jolie Hunt January 15, 2010
He was educated, like Fleming, at Eton, but unlike his creator, he was no snob.
Literary Bond Superior to Movie Version Allen Barra November 10, 2012
You write a lot about how you were a jerk or a snob when it came to comedy or film.
Patton Oswalt on Fighting Conservatives With Satire William O’Connor January 5, 2015
What a snob … Oh, I understand why he wants you to go to college.
The Ultimate 2012 Quiz Michael Tomasky December 26, 2012
Watch as Jon Stewart schools him on the actual meaning of a “snob.”
‘The Artist’ Sweeps Oscars, Davy Jones Dies, J.Lo on the Alleged Nip Slip, and More Viral Videos The Daily Beast Video March 2, 2012
Historical Examples
There is nothing a snob hates so much as snobbery in another.
The Way of Ambition Robert Hichens
He who bullies those who are not in a position to resist may be a snob, but cannot be a gentleman.
Self-Help Samuel Smiles
I am far from being a snob, Archie, but Newport is really the loveliest place in America.
Blacksheep! Blacksheep! Meredith Nicholson
We are left with the uneasy impression that William is a snob.
Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, July 8, 1914 Various
While he was there he contributed to The snob, the name of which suggested to him a title in after years.
The Age of Tennyson Hugh Walker
noun
a person who strives to associate with those of higher social status and who behaves condescendingly to others Compare inverted snob
(as modifier): snob appeal
a person having similar pretensions with regard to his tastes, etc: an intellectual snob
n.
1781, “a shoemaker, a shoemaker’s apprentice,” of unknown origin. It came to be used in Cambridge University slang c.1796, often contemptuously, for “townsman, local merchant,” and passed then into literary use, where by 1831 it was being used for “person of the ordinary or lower classes.” Meaning “person who vulgarly apes his social superiors” is by 1843, popularized 1848 by William Thackeray’s “Book of Snobs.” The meaning later broadened to include those who insist on their gentility, in addition to those who merely aspire to it, and by 1911 the word had its main modern sense of “one who despises those considered inferior in rank, attainment, or taste.”
Read Also:
- Antisocial
unwilling or unable to associate in a normal or friendly way with other people: He’s not antisocial, just shy. antagonistic, hostile, or unfriendly toward others; menacing; threatening: an antisocial act. opposed or detrimental to order or the principles on which society is constituted: antisocial behavior. Psychiatry. of or relating to a pattern of behavior in […]
- Antisocial personality
a personality disorder, beginning early in life, characterized by chronic and continuous antisocial behavior in which the rights of others are violated, as by lying, stealing, or aggressive sexual behavior. Contemporary Examples Few of those who believe Hernandez is guilty will be surprised by a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. Is Pedro Hernandez, the Suspect […]
- Antisocialist
a person who opposes socialism. Also, antisocialistic. opposing socialism, made up of antisocialists, etc.: Antisocialist forces marched on the capital.
- Societal
noting or pertaining to large social groups, or to their activities, customs, etc. Contemporary Examples “I wanted to give Girl Land a larger historical and societal context,” Flanagan explains. Trouble in ‘Girl Land’: Caitlin Flanagan Takes on Adolescent Girls Jessica Bennett January 10, 2012 So if a few extra math geniuses now choose to build […]
- Socrates
469?–399 b.c, Athenian philosopher. Contemporary Examples Like Socrates, Street Epistemologists are to understand themselves as inquisitive teachers, not combative lecturers. Atheist Philosopher Peter Boghossian’s Guide to Converting Believers Michael Schulson November 1, 2013 The unexamined life is not worth living, according to Socrates. London’s Sober Goodbye to Margaret Thatcher Jamie Dettmer April 16, 2013 For […]