snark

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snark

(snärk)

n. Slang

1. A snide, sarcastic, or disrespectful attitude: "On the issue of mainstream monotheistic religions and the irrationality behind many of religion's core tenets, scientists often set aside their skewers, their snark, and their impatient demand for proof, and instead don the calming cardigan of a kiddie-show host on public TV" (Natalie Angier).

2. Commentary expressing such an attitude: "He must now endure days of media scrutiny, schadenfreude from his rivals and an overflow of social media scorn, snark and satire" (Alessandra Stanley).

[Back-formation from snarky.]

snark v.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

snark

(snɑːk)

1. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) an imaginary creature in Lewis Carroll's poetry

2. (Poetry) an imaginary creature in Lewis Carroll's poetry

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

snark

- A blend of snake and shark by Lewis Carroll, it is a synonym for "snore" or "snort."

See also related terms for snake.

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References in classic literature ?

"Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice: That alone should encourage the crew.

"Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried, As he landed his crew with care; Supporting each man on the top of the tide By a finger entwined in his hair.

And that, after all, Is the thing that one needs with a Snark."

The last of the crew needs especial remark, Though he looked an incredible dunce: He had just one idea--but, that one being "Snark," The good Bellman engaged him at once.

The Beaver, who happened to hear the remark, Protested, with tears in its eyes, That not even the rapture of hunting the Snark Could atone for that dismal surprise!

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When the Snark sailed on her long cruise from San Francisco there was nothing to drink on board.

And thereafter, once each day, at twelve o'clock, after our observations were worked up and the Snark's position charted, I drank half a tumbler of the stuff.

And let me say right here that the doctor's job on the Snark at that time was a man's job.

I sweated out my thousand words a day, every day, except when the shock of fever smote me, or a couple of nasty squalls smote the Snark, in the morning.

And when we careened the Snark and had to work in the water to our necks between shocks of fever, I noted how raw trade rum helped the work along.

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Among them are encountering snarks in Anglo-Saxon translation: one translator's top 10 list, sarcasm and its consequences in diplomacy and politics in medieval Italy: Brunetto Latini's letter to Pavia and Dante's Monarchia, self-evident morals: affective reversal as social critique in Henryson's fables, poking [fun] at [the foibles of] the flesh: the Galician-Portuguese cantigas d'escarnho e de mal dizer, sarcasm in medieval German and Old Norse literature: the dark side of human human behavior from the Hildebrandslied to Fortunatus, and snarky shrews: gender comedy and the uses of sarcasm.

Words that Tear the Flesh: Essays on Sarcasm in Medieval and Early Modern Literature and Cultures

"Cheap toilet paper," snarks Cathy, the master of the backhanded compliment and the best bit about this comedy.