'archsnob' originates from English, a compound of the prefix 'arch-' and the noun 'snob'. 'arch-' ultimately comes from Greek (arkhē/arkhos) meaning 'chief, principal' (via Latin/Old French into English), while 'snob' is English slang originating in the late 18th century.

'arch-' was used in English compounds such as 'archbishop' and 'archenemy' to mean 'principal' or 'extreme'; 'snob' began in late 18th-century English slang (originally applied to a shoemaker or town-dweller) and shifted to mean someone concerned with social rank and pretension. The compound 'archsnob' arose by combining the intensifying prefix with 'snob' to denote an especially pronounced snob.

Initially, the elements meant 'chief' (arch-) and (for 'snob') a lowly or non-gentry person in slang; over time 'snob' came to mean someone who looks down on others for lacking status or taste, and 'archsnob' evolved to mean an extreme, emphatic form of that trait.