snob appeal

noun

: qualities in a product that appeal to the snobbery in a purchaser

Examples of snob appeal in a Sentence

Expensive cars have snob appeal. old foreign films with snob appeal
Recent Examples on the Web Post 1980, part of the attraction of rangefinders was snob appeal. IEEE Spectrum, 13 Dec. 2018 Plus, there's the snob appeal. Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, 14 Apr. 2022 Gucci’s mystique at that time came down to quality and snob appeal. Vogue, 24 Nov. 2021 Big state universities as well as name brands with global snob appeal and huge endowments can survive the additional pressure piled on by the pandemic. Spencer Jakab, WSJ, 25 June 2021 The utilitarian Beaver also has a certain snob appeal. Lionel Atwill, Field & Stream, 24 Dec. 2020 If your priorities are snob appeal and playing one-upmanship down at the polo club, the price should be an attribute, not an obstacle. Tony Assenza, Car and Driver, 30 June 2020 Notably, the study's authors estimated the book value on all 461 cars, so the 2004 Mercedes S-class that's worth $5000 didn't get ascribed automatic snob appeal. Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, 28 Feb. 2020 Michel Roux, a Frenchman who got his start in the hotel industry and once worked as a dishwasher, pulled off the remarkable feat of endowing vodka with snob appeal. James R. Hagerty, WSJ, 17 May 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'snob appeal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1933, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of snob appeal was in 1933

Dictionary Entries Near snob appeal

Cite this Entry

“Snob appeal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snob%20appeal. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

snob appeal

noun
: the appeal (as from high price) that a product has for a snobbish person
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