There's been a good list of snare words here.
One that I haven't seen yet is 'honk'. I've heard this on different snares including my Acrolite and Yamaha Paul Leim. I've even heard Alex Van Halen's snare described as having 'honk'
Yet I think most of the words we are using depend on what tuning and heads we use. I like a 'snappy' snare - but only in certain situations like straight ahead jazz. Even twhen I want it to sound snappy but not tight. Go check out some of Bill Stewart's videos on this site to hear a beautiful snappy snare sound coming from either a brass or bronze Ludwig 6.5 x 14 snare. Just a great sound.
However I'm most interested in sounds that lean toward warmth or slightly darker tones.
But dig this: I have a Pork Pie 6 x 13 maple snare that has an Aquarian Modern Vintage head on it. It has a great warm sound when tuned to about medium. If I throw an Ambassador, G1 or Aquarian TC head on it and tune it higher - it gets 'snappy'. So I guess the best description of a snare is one that is extremely versatile, similar to what I've heard about Ludwig Supras and Black Beauties (don't own either yet - but sometime soon.
).This is the feature that will sell most snares when players can actually make it work that way. If you want a high funk sound, get a Supra, put a single ply batter head on it and crank. Want a retro Steve Gadd floppy 'pudding' sounding snare take the same snare, tune it down and throw some tape or Moon Gel on it.
Can be difficult to pin down a drum to a few words if it reacts this way. I feel that sometimes descriptions from manufacturers is driven by demographic marketing as much as construction.
Jim