ENGLISH
REFERENCE

snob

n.
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈsnɑb// UK //snˈɒb// snob Archaic Informal Vulgar

n. a person who thinks they are better than others and only likes people or things that are expensive or high-class.

n. a person who considers themselves superior to others and is overly concerned with social status or wealth.


SIMPLE

He is a total snob who only drinks expensive wine.

CONTEXTUAL

The local snob refused to speak to the new neighbors because they lived in a smaller house.

COMPLEX

While some critics dismissed the film as a snob's attempt to elevate a simple genre, others argued it successfully bridged the gap between high and popular culture.

Synonyms
Origin

Late 18th century dialectal English snob (“cobbler”), of unknown origin. Early senses of the word carried the meaning of "lower status"; it was then used to describe those seeking to imitate those of higher wealth or status. Folk etymology derives it from the Latin phrase sine nobilitate (“without nobility”), but early uses had no connection to this. The modern sense was popularized by William Makepeace Thackeray in The Book of Snobs (1848).

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