snazzy

English

Etymology

Unknown but perhaps a blend of snappy + jazzy, or from Irish snas (meaning polish, good appearance) [1]. The first documented use of the word was on 30 March 1901 on page 3 of the The Evening Post, Wellington, New Zealand. The Reference was to "'Snazzy,' otherwise G.H. Snazelle ." George H. Snazelle was a noted English vocalist, entertainer and actor who was born George Snazel in 1848, and who died in 1912. It is probable that the word was coined to refer to this stylish, well-traveled celebrity of the age.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsnæzi/

Adjective

snazzy (comparative snazzier, superlative snazziest)

1. (informal) Elegant in manner of dress; stylish, modern or appealing in appearance; flashy.
   • 2000, Alev Aktar, "TAILOR MADE GOES: Fashion week closes with Calvin, Donna and Vera," New York Daily News, 23 Sep. (retrieved 8 Jan. 2009):

     One particularly snazzy outfit consisted of vertically striped pants paired with a horizontally striped and sequined top.

2. (informal) Excellent; clever, ingenious, or adept in behavior, operation, or execution.
   • 1938, Jane Murdock, "Friday Afternoon Dances," Washington Post, 17 Apr., p. PY8:

     Those Friday afternoon dances in the gym are really snazzy.

   • 2009, Suzanne Choney, "Palm looks to regain place in smartphone race," msnbc.com, 8 Jan (retrieved 8 Jan 2009) :

     Of those migrating to the iPhone from other devices, a good number of them are former Treo users who found Apple's device to be a souped-up, snazzier and even easier-to-use version of the Treo.

Synonyms

• (elegantly dressed, stylish, flashy): dapper, elegant, pizazzy, smart, cool
• (excellent, clever, ingenious, adept): cool (informal), nifty (informal), smart

Antonyms

• (elegantly dressed, stylish, flashy): inelegant, scruffy, sloppy
• (excellent, clever, ingenious, adept): crappy (coarse slang), duff, lame (informal, especially US), naff (informal), rubbishy (informal)

Related terms

Terms which are etymologically related to "snazzy"

snazzily snazziness

snazztastic

snazz up

Translations

elegantly dressed, stylish, flashy

Finnish: tyylikäs (fi)

Russian: шикарный (ru) (šikárnyj), броский (ru) (bróskij)

excellent, clever, ingenious, adept

Finnish: tyylikäs (fi), näyttävä (fi)