snobby

the word 'snobby' is a derivative of the noun 'snob', whose own origins are obscure but emerged in late 18th-century english slang. initially, 'snob' referred to a cobbler or a person of ordinary social standing, later evolving at cambridge university to denote townspeople as opposed to gownspeople. by the mid-19th century, its meaning inverted through the writings of william makepeace thackeray to describe someone who vulgarly imitates or craves association with the upper class while looking down on those they consider inferior. the adjective-forming suffix '-y' was appended to create 'snobby', characterizing someone who possesses the disdainful, pretentious attitudes of a snob.

Structure: snob + y snob (origin: english slang, 18th c.) - functional role: root, denoting a person lacking superior social status or one who vulgarly apes the manners of the upper class. y (origin: old english) - functional role: suffix forming adjectives meaning "characterized by; full of; having the quality of".