Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) irritable, touchy.

1915		H.L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap (1917) 209: I had received a rather snarky letter from him demanding to know how long I meant to remain in North America.
1923		F. Anthony ‘Helping Out Gus’ in Me And Gus (1977) 15: We parted real snarky at the finish.
1999		N. Cohn Yes We have No 210: She made a snarky remark, and he pushed her down on the bed.
2006		P. Shannon Davey Darling 203: ‘And what is that?’ said Mum, snarky as all hell.
2015		Californian (Salinas, CA) 17 Aug. B5/2: [Computer] screen time [...] is earned with good behavior, completing homework and chores. It is lost if the kids get snarky.
2022		J. Flanders Twitter 6 Nov. 🌐 Like everyone else, this is the introductory ’Hello, I’m fleeing Twitter’ post. Historian. Snarky. Easily riled.

2. (US gay) maliciously gossipy, bitchy.

1915		H.L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap (1917) 356: I was not above a snarky little wish to correct the social horizon of Belknap-Jackson.
1996		Detroit Free Press (MI) 4 Oct. 4G/1: Not to be to snarky, but the fofmer [...] women star is starting to resemble the deceased drag queen Divine.
2000		C. Hiaasen Sick Puppy 309: The governor was able to [...] relax without fear of ending up in a snarky newspaper column.
2002		Allecto ‘Buddy Fuck’ 🌐 They talked dirt. And they still took every opportunity to call each other and indulge in being blessedly, absolutely snarky.
2009		J. Stahl Pain Killers 303: I got snarky because I was mad.
2017		Guardian Online 1 Dec. 🌐 Donald Trump is [...] a great character. I covered him but as time went on, I got snarkier.
2017		Philadelphia Inquirer (PA) 29 Jan. F07/5: Yeah, maybe we were a bit snarky! Even Mrs Motormouth said so.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 33: [A]n army of snarky snitches.

3. (US) excellent, first-rate.

1961		Jrnl Herald (Dayton, OH) 6 Nov. 27/3: ‘When they showed our “Gunsmoke” films in Washington, the committe thought they were real snarky.’ ‘Snarky? Is that like good?’ ‘Boy, that’s like peachy’.
2007		Lansing State Jrnl (MI) 28 Jan. 29/1: Try giving a snarky baby tee [...] Forget those dowdy baby shower gifts. Today’s gifts are edgy, fun and [...] quirky [...] Web sites that offer snarky babywear.