Snobism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The attitude of looking down on people considered socially or intellectually beneath oneself, especially over matters of class or taste
2. Haughty contempt toward others judged to lack refinement, rank, or cultivation, shown through condescension and exclusion
3. Behaviour that displays a sense of superiority over those thought less sophisticated, often expressed through airs of exclusivity

Etymology: "Snobism" is "snob" with the suffix "-ism," which turns a word for a person into a word for a attitude or behavior. The more interesting story is the older word. "Snob" first appeared in English in the late 18th century, when it meant a shoemaker's apprentice or a person of low birth, and it later took on the sense of someone who pretends to be of higher status than they are. The suffix "-ism," borrowed through Latin from Greek "-ismos," is the familiar device for naming a doctrine, practice, or state of mind. Attaching it to "snob" produced a word for the attitude itself: the habit of looking down on others while fawning over those above you. Some English writers picked up the new term quickly, and it has stayed in use as a way to name that particular kind of social pretension.

Synonyms: snobbery, elitism, snobbishness

Antonyms: egalitarianism, humility