sniff
Americanverb (used without object)
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to draw air through the nose in short, audible inhalations.
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to clear the nose by so doing; sniffle.
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to smell by short inhalations.
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to show disdain, contempt, etc., by or as by sniffing.
verb (used with object)
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to perceive by or as by smelling.
to sniff a scandal.
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to inhale through the nose.
to sniff the air.
noun
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an act of sniffing; a single, short, audible inhalation.
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the sound made by such an act.
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a scent or odor perceived.
a sniff of perfume.
verb
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to inhale through the nose, usually in short rapid audible inspirations, as for the purpose of identifying a scent, for clearing a congested nasal passage, or for taking a drug or intoxicating fumes
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to perceive or attempt to perceive (a smell) by inhaling through the nose
noun
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the act or sound of sniffing
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a smell perceived by sniffing, esp a faint scent
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sniffsimple
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sniffssimple
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have sniffedperfect
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has sniffedperfect
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am sniffingprogressive
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are sniffingprogressive
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is sniffingprogressive
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have been sniffingperfect progressive
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has been sniffingperfect progressive
Past
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sniffedsimple
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had sniffedperfect
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was sniffingprogressive
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were sniffingprogressive
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had been sniffingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sniff
1300–50; Middle English; back formation from snivel
Explanation
Smell that cake baking? No? Take a sniff. A sniff is when you take air in through your nose to smell something. Dogs sniff a lot. It's how they get to know the world. Imagine this when you see the figurative use for sniff meaning to snoop as in, "The detective was sniffing around for clues." Sniff is one of those words that sound like what they mean. Take a big sniff and listen, you'll see. If you have a cold, and you keep sniffing, you have what's known as the sniffles.
Vocabulary lists containing sniff
Smell Words
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"Growing Together" and "When I Grow Up"
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This meant locals eager for a sniff were juggling schedules and watching for updates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Lee reaches to sniff some hardy Cleveland sage 4.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
Officials such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the plan was to right-size the staff and introduce more technology to sniff out unpaid tax bills.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026
Coleman was up against experienced and prolific forwards Paul McTiernan and Sean Flannery, but neither got a sniff against the raw but energetic youngster.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
Then Scruffy got up and began walking this way and that, his nose low to the ground, continuing to sniff.
From "The Cinderella Ballet Mystery: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #4" by Carolyn Keene
The firm uses computer-driven strategies to trade based on patterns and signals it sniffs out in markets and big data sets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
He’s bothered not by the stench of corruption but the criticism, which, he sniffs, is not informed or “anything remotely resembling it.”
From Salon ● Jan. 4, 2025
Sergio Perez sniffs out that this might be the moment to make a pass on Charles Leclerc, but the Ferrari driver is still in second, keeping the Mexican at bay.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2024
Somewhere in the mountains of southeastern Spain, a tiny wood mouse sniffs the nutty, alluring aroma of acorns.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 29, 2024
I swear Principal Trask glances at my armband, and then she sniffs and wrinkles her nose like something stinks.
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
One AI lab insider sniffed: “We would be fools reacting to Karpian theatrics; he does well talking his own book.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
“I don’t think that an artist should bother about his audience,” Vladimir Nabokov sniffed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026
A reviewer in Britain's Guardian newspaper sniffed that "an undeniable strain of sentimentalism runs throughout" the book and its prose.
From Barron's ● Feb. 6, 2026
Some in the pit lane sniffed a conspiracy here.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025
She looked Christopher up and down and sniffed.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
He spent a full minute sniffing my legs and shoes, after coming up to Viana to be petted.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
The skepticism of the AI-chip trade is striking, but the trading on Thursday may indicate that investors are sniffing out a recovery in Android phone sales on the horizon.
From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026
They sit around what resembles a school science lab sniffing coffee beans and slurping coffee so aggressively that there’s loud music playing to drown them out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
Halliday: I see Agnes and Daisy as being two cats in a room sniffing each other out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
She surveys me from a distance of three feet, sniffing cautiously.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
