snicker

[ snik-er ]
See synonyms for: snickersnickeredsnickeringsnickers on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)
  1. to laugh in a half-suppressed, indecorous or disrespectful manner.

verb (used with object)
  1. to utter with a snicker.

noun
  1. a snickering laugh.

Origin of snicker

1
First recorded in 1685–95; of expressive origin

Other words from snicker

  • snick·er·ing·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with snicker

Words Nearby snicker

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use snicker in a sentence

  • “It sounds horrible,” Hef says on the phone from the Mansion in Los Angeles, punctuating his sarcasm with a snicker.

    Getting a Rise Out of Hef | Lloyd Grove | January 4, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Enslee began to snicker again, taking some support in his shame from another man's disgrace.

    What Will People Say? | Rupert Hughes
  • Jest tell her there's more Smithses wanted an' she'll leave the Greenses 'thout a snicker.'

  • A gratified snore from Dee and Miss Cox with a little snicker went to her room.

  • The snicker grew to a laugh—a laugh with a thread of grim menace in it, and a tinge of mounting man-hysteria.

    Back Home | Irvin S. Cobb
  • You see, I'm goin' to croak 'fore long—oh, you don't need to snicker; 't's a fact.

    Tramping with Tramps | Josiah Flynt

British Dictionary definitions for snicker

snicker

/ (ˈsnɪkə) /


noun
  1. mainly US and Canadian a sly or disrespectful laugh, esp one partly stifled

verb
  1. to utter such a laugh: Equivalent term (in Britain and certain other countries): snigger

  2. (of a horse) to whinny

Origin of snicker

1
C17: probably of imitative origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012