somebody who tends to patronize or avoid those regarded as social inferiors
somebody who blatantly attempts to cultivate or imitate those admired as social superiors
Tom had no handkerchief, and he looked on boys who had, as snobs — Mark Twain
somebody who has an air of smug superiority in matters of knowledge or taste
a cultural snob
archaic a lowly person of vulgar tastes
my impression being that your family are, in the aggregate, impertinent snobs; and, in detail, unmitigated ruffians — Dickens
snobbery noun
snobbish adj
snobbishly adv
snobbishness noun
snobbism noun
snobby adj
origin unknown; often said to be from s.nob., short for Latin sine nobilitate without nobility, used in various contexts to distinguish persons not of noble birth, but there is no evidence to link such an abbreviation with the word snob. This originally meant a shoemaker, later any member of the lower classes; hence somebody who despises their own class and aspires to membership of a higher one