different between narky vs snarky

English

Etymology

From nark +? -y.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n??ki/

Adjective

narky (comparative narkier, superlative narkiest)

1. (Britain, Australia, Ireland, slang) Irritated, in a bad mood; disparaging.
   • 1995, Linda Grant, The Cast Iron Shore, Granta, 1998, page 61,

     The war had made Stan narkier than ever.

   • 2003, Justine Larbalestier, A Buffy Confession, Glenn Yeffeth (editor), Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Discuss Their Favorite Television Show, BenBella Books, US, page 83,

     I?m now one of those people I used to defend the show against. There is no one more bitter than an ex-true believer. Color me narky and picky.

   • 2005, Maxim Jakubowski (editor), The Best British Mysteries 2005, page 191,

     It was a special request and Mrs. Fleming had to do it all on the spot, so that?s made her even more narky than usual.

   • 2005, Mark Latham, The Latham Diaries, page 141,

     Foolishly, I went to the National Right dinner last night. What a narky, miserable bunch of sods.

   • 2008, Amanda Brunker, Champagne Kisses, page 46,

     I had to endure the narkiest taxi driver complaining about ‘Foreign lads takin? taxi plates’, who then managed to test my patience even more by leaving me a good walk from Parker?s apartment block.

   • 2008, Claudia Carroll, Do You Want to Know a Secret?, Random House, UK, unnumbered page,

     Age is definitely making me narkier. The only difference between me and my moany Auntie Maisie is a plaid shopping trolley and a tracheotomy.

Derived terms

• narkiness

Anagrams

• Karyn, kyarn, kyarn'

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?sn??.ki/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?sn??.ki/

Adjective

snarky (comparative snarkier, superlative snarkiest)

1. (informal, often humorous) Snide and sarcastic; usually out of irritation.
2. (obsolete) Irritable, irritated.

   Synonym: cranky

Derived terms

• snark (noun)
• snarkily
• snarkism
• snarkiness

Translations

Further reading

• “snarky”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

References

Anagrams

• Karsyn