different between snobbish vs supercilious

English

Etymology

snob +? -ish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sn?b??/

Adjective

snobbish (comparative more snobbish, superlative most snobbish)

1. Having the property of being a snob; arrogant and pretentious; smugly superior or dismissive of perceived inferiors.
   • c.1948, George Orwell, Such, Such Were the Joys

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

Synonyms

• cliquish

Translations

English

Etymology

From Latin supercili?sus (“haughty”), from supercilium (“eyebrow, arrogance”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?sju?.p?(?)?s?.li.?s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?s(j)u.p??s?.li.?s/
• Rhymes: -?li?s

Adjective

supercilious (comparative more supercilious, superlative most supercilious)

1. Arrogantly superior; showing contemptuous indifference; haughty.
   • Now he was a sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.

   • 2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, "British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party," New York Times (retrieved 29 May 2013):

     Buffeted by criticism of his policy on Europe, battered by rebellion in the ranks over his bill to legalize same-sex marriage and wounded by the perception that he is supercilious, contemptuous and out of touch with mainstream Conservatism, Mr. Cameron earlier this week took the highly unusual step of sending a mass e-mail (or, as he called it, “a personal note”) to his party’s grass-roots members.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:arrogant

Derived terms

• superciliously
• superciliousness

Translations