snob

noun

ˈsnäb 

1

British : cobbler

2

: one who blatantly imitates, fawningly admires, or vulgarly seeks association with those regarded as social superiors

3

a

: one who tends to rebuff, avoid, or ignore those regarded as inferior

b

: one who has an offensive air of superiority in matters of knowledge or taste

Synonyms of snob

• snot
• elitist

Examples of snob in a Sentence

Most of the people in the club are snobs who look down on people who attended public schools.

Don't be such a snob.

Recent Examples on the Web

Breaking down the song of the summer debate Music reviewers on social media are, more often than not, pretentious snobs who take themselves too seriously, but Mic The Snare is a welcome change of pace. — Moises Mendez Ii, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026

Even the rock snobs at Rolling Stone loved her, flying her to New York in ’77 for an extraordinary photo shoot in which Annie Leibovitz paired Parton with an emerging Austrian bodybuilding star. — David Kamp, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2026

The film captures the friction between tennis snobs and the more democratic pickleballers while examining father-son relationships and intergenerational friendships. — Christine Ledbetter, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026

Sarah and Billo were plain-sailing people who didn’t pursue beauty or seek out texture, whereas Fanny was an exquisite snob without the circumstances to support such haughtiness. — Claire Carusillo, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1781, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing snob

• anti-snob
• snob appeal
• snob value

Rhymes for snob

• blob
• bob
• cob
• daub
• fob
• glob
• gob
• hob
• job
• knob
• lob
• mob

Kids Definition

snob

noun

ˈsnäb 

1

: one who imitates, admires, or seeks association with those of higher social position

2

: one who looks down upon those felt to be less important

Etymology

from obsolete snob "a member of the lower classes," from a dialect word snob "cobbler, shoemaker"

Word Origin

Snob is an old word in English for "a cobbler, a person who makes or repairs shoes." Cobblers came to be thought of as representative of all of the working-class or lower-class people. In time the name snob came to be applied to the lower classes as distinguished from the nobility, the landowners, and the rich merchants. From its being used for any member of the lower class, snob soon came to mean "a person who pretends to be a member of a higher class, one who imitates the clothing, speech, and manners of the nobility." Nowadays the word means "anyone who acts as if he or she were better than others."