snob
The origin and history of snob.
Etymology
Originally 18th-century English dialect for "cobbler." It later came to mean someone of lower status trying to imitate the upper classes, and eventually flipped to mean someone who looks down on others — a shift popularized by William Thackeray's The Book of Snobs (1848).
Class of 1848
snob first entered the language around 1848. Other words from the same year:
See the full Class of 1848 →