snarky
English
editEtymology
editFrom snark + -y; 1906, as “irritable”, from snark (“to snort”), by onomatopoeia (1866). Compare Low German snarken (“to snore”), North Frisian snarke, Swedish snarka.[1] In the sense “sarcastic” popularized in the late 1990s.[2]
Pronunciation
edit- (US) IPA(key): /ˈsnɑɹ.ki/
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈsnɑː.ki/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ki
Adjective
editsnarky (comparative snarkier, superlative snarkiest)
- (informal, often humorous) Snide and sarcastic; usually out of irritation.
- 2011 October 19, “You may know me as a snarky caption writer whose work went viral”, in The Guardian[1]:
- In spite of its inherent banality, and because my editors let me relieve my dyspepsia by writing snarky captions, it is regularly one of the more popular destinations on the Globe and Mail website.
- (obsolete) Irritable, irritated.
- Synonym: cranky
- 1918, C. J. Dennis, “Dad”, in Digger Smith:
- 'E barks. "I'll do me work meself, yeh 'ear?" An' then 'e gits so snarky that I clear.
Derived terms
editTranslations
editsarcastic and irreverent
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References
edit- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “snarky”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ snarky_ADJ at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.
Further reading
edit- “snarky”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Anagrams
editCategories:
- English terms suffixed with -y (adjectival)
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɑː(ɹ)ki
- Rhymes:English/ɑː(ɹ)ki/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English informal terms
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Personality