snobbish

/ˈsnɒbɪʃ/

//ˈsnɒbɪʃ// adj

"snobbish" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“snobbish” is uncommon English (frequency #53,265 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,265
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Having the property of being a snob; arrogant and pretentious; smugly superior or dismissive of perceived inferiors.

Corpus desk

Index EN-snobbish · snobbish · English

snobbish · rank #53,265 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,265
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Snowdonia

Nearest frequency peer: Snowdonia (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “snobbish”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “snobbish” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for snobbish
PropertyValue
Headwordsnobbish
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈsnɒbɪʃ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#53,265
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “snobbish” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).snobbishfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Snowdonia” (#53,266), “Smirnoff” (#53,263), “soapbox” (#53,267). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “snobbish” is #53,265. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

snobbish is uncommon English at frequency #53,265 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈsnɒbɪʃ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Having the property of being a snob; arrogant and pretentious; smugly superior or dismissive of perceived inferiors.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for snobbish in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From snob + -ish. The correct English form is snobbish, spelled S-N-O-B-B-I-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Having the property of being a snob; arrogant and pretentious; smugly superior or dismissive of perceived inferiors.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how snobbish appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. St Cyprian's was an expensive and snobbish school which was in process of becoming more snobbish, and, I imagine, more expensive.

Etymology

From snob + -ish.

Synonyms

snobbysnobbisticcliquish

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "snobbish"?
"snobbish" is spelled S-N-O-B-B-I-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsnɒbɪʃ/.
What does "snobbish" mean?
As an adjective, "snobbish" means: Having the property of being a snob; arrogant and pretentious; smugly superior or dismissive of perceived inferiors.
How do you pronounce "snobbish"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "snobbish" is /ˈsnɒbɪʃ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "snobbish"?
From snob + -ish. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "snobbish", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list