snarky
/ˈsnɑɹ.ki/adjective
snarky is spelled S-N-A-R-K-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, snarky means “Snide and sarcastic; usually out of irritation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in snarky?
| Letters | 6: S-N-A-R-K-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,748th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is snarky?
Snarky appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce snarky?
- US /ˈsnɑɹ.ki/
- UK /ˈsnɑː.ki/
Snarky has 2 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-snarky.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with snarky?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as snarky from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹki/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of snarky
- snarkier comparative
- snarkiest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does snarky mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
informalSnide and sarcastic; usually out of irritation.
- 2
obsoleteIrritable, irritated.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Snarky in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense sarcastic and irreverent:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | bissig, spöttelnd, sarkastisch, beißend, maliziös, abfällig |
| Portuguese | debochado, ranzinza |
| Spanish | mordaz, vivaracho |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does snarky come from?
From snark + -y; 1906, as “irritable”, from snark (“to snort”), by onomatopoeia (1866). Compare Low German snarken (“to snore”), North Frisian snarke, Swedish snarka. In the sense “sarcastic” popularized in the late 1990s.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).