snark

1 of 2

noun

ˈsnärk 

informal

: an attitude or expression of mocking irreverence and sarcasm

… no human endeavor is beyond snark these days, so lots of people enjoy hijacking a corporation's marketing hashtag to mock the company …

—Paul McFedries

snark

2 of 2

verb

snarked; snarking; snarks

transitive + intransitive

: to make an irreverent or sarcastic comment : to say something snarky

Are they even willing to discuss policy rather than snark about candidates' supposed personality flaws?

—Paul Krugman

[Chrissy] Teigen said she was in the process of privately reaching out to people she had insulted in the past. She said she first started using social media to "snark at some celebrities."

—Tasneem Nashrulla

Tina Fey has embodied that all-too-rare brainy/funny/sexy trifecta since she first snarked her way through Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update."

—Entertainment Weekly

Upon gazing at the evening meal, Russell snarked: "Is this a nursery school picnic?"

—Glenn Singer

Did you know?

Credit for snark is often given to Lewis Carroll, on the basis of his having written a poem with this word in the title, back in the 1870s. The modern snark, however, is a back-formation (“a word formed by subtraction of a real or supposed affix from an already existing longer word”), a class of words that includes burgle and back-stab. It comes from taking the longer word snarky and subtracting the -y. Snarky emerged in English around the turn of the 20th century, initially with the meaning of “snappish, crotchety,” and then later took on the sense of “sarcastic, impertinent, or irreverent in tone or manner.” The noun snark is a much more recent addition to the language, arising in the 1990s. It was preceded by the verb snark, “to make an irreverent or sarcastic comment, to say something snarky,” which dates to the late 1980s.

Examples of snark in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In a departure from the sleaze and snark of George Bush’s aughts, Obamacore positioned itself as sensitive, non-threatening, and relatable. —Nate Jones, Vulture, 20 Aug. 2024

Bong’s South Korean version of Western snark and high-tech world-building has given him the reputation of a Kubrickian hipster. —Armond White, National Review, 12 Mar. 2025

Verb

For its part, the social media website, founded in 2005 and now based in San Francisco, divides up subjects, then scoops up links, videos, text posts and images, which are discussed by users, who are prone to snark, not my favorite part of the experience. —Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 3 Jan. 2024

Or snark on Kendall Jenner’s odd gas station photo shoot? —Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 10 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun

back-formation from snarky

Verb

back-formation from snarky

First Known Use

Noun

1999, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1987, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for snark

• arc
• ark
• bark
• barque
• dark
• hark
• lark
• marc
• mark
• marque
• narc
• quark

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Kids Definition

snark

noun

ˈsnärk 

informal

: an attitude or expression of sarcasm or mockery

snark verb