Snobbish, pretentious, or acting superior to others; a dated slang term suggesting someone is acting high-class or stuck-up.
Derived from 'dictate' or possibly from the word 'dictum,' evolving in early 20th-century African American Vernacular English to mean someone who acts like they're giving orders or is overly refined and snobbish.
This word is a great example of how slang terms can tell us about social attitudes—calling someone 'dicty' was a way to push back against people who were trying to act better than their community, showing how language itself can be a form of social commentary.
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