snivel
Americanverb (used without object)
-
snivels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sniveled,
past participle, past
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snivelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
sniveling,
present participle
-
snivelling
present participle (especially British)
-
to weep or cry with sniffling.
-
to affect a tearful state; whine.
-
to run at the nose; have a runny nose.
She sniveled from the cold.
-
to draw up mucus audibly through the nose.
Stop sniveling and use your handkerchief.
verb (used with object)
-
snivels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sniveled,
past participle, past
-
snivelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
sniveling,
present participle
-
snivelling
present participle (especially British)
noun
-
weak, whining, or pretended weeping.
-
a light sniffle, as in weeping.
-
a hypocritical show of feeling.
a sentimental snivel.
-
mucus running from the nose.
-
(the) snivels, a sniveling condition; a slight cold; the sniffles.
verb
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(intr) to sniffle as a sign of distress, esp contemptibly
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to utter (something) tearfully; whine
-
(intr) to have a runny nose
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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snivelsimple
-
snivelssimple
-
have sniveledperfect
-
have snivelledperfect
-
has sniveledperfect
-
has snivelledperfect
-
am snivelingprogressive
-
am snivellingprogressive
-
are snivelingprogressive
-
are snivellingprogressive
-
is snivelingprogressive
-
is snivellingprogressive
-
have been snivelingperfect progressive
-
have been snivellingperfect progressive
-
has been snivelingperfect progressive
-
has been snivellingperfect progressive
Past
-
sniveledsimple
-
snivelledsimple
-
had sniveledperfect
-
had snivelledperfect
-
was snivelingprogressive
-
was snivellingprogressive
-
were snivelingprogressive
-
were snivellingprogressive
-
had been snivelingperfect progressive
-
had been snivellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of snivel
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English snyvele; compare Old English snyflung “sniveling,” derivative of snofl “mucus”; cognate with Low German snüfeln
Explanation
Sometimes, when you really want something, you might resort to whining and blubbering to get it — in other words, you'll snivel. It's never pretty, so try to keep your dignity, and don't snivel! If you want a real picture of the verb snivel, consider that the meaning of the assumed Old English word snyflan meant "to run at the nose, to sniffle." Even worse, that was derived from snofl, or "mucus." Pretty picture, eh? The word came to mean "be tearful," and it suggested someone who was weak or nasty. Today it is often used in its adjective form, sniveling, followed by a contemptuous noun like "coward."
Vocabulary lists containing snivel
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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"Of Mice and Men"
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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:
And I whine a little bit and moan and snivel, and that works.
From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2021
Deny your partner a Facebook or Twitter account if you want, but don't snivel when people are swirling their fingers round their ears at talk of your name.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 8, 2011
It is a question of audience psychology, of knowing what will make the playgoing mass guffaw, snivel, clap its hands.
From Time Magazine Archive
Basketball's all-time biggest draw retires to the golf links, the second-rate wannabes he turned into multimillionaires snivel about their economic hardship, and the league still finds ways to fill the tent.
From Time Magazine Archive
I snivel and sniff and give a weak nod.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
Zachary Quinto snivels in prime form as the insecure son of Niagara, and Pearce’s screenplay saves some of its sharpest stuff for their less-than-idyllic relationship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2018
Yet another former South Korean President, Lee Myung-bak, was described with “sweats, snivels and tears all over his face.”
From The New Yorker ● May 14, 2017
Bruno becomes more interesting, she grows less so, and still she snivels at center stage, whining about her bad luck and mistreatment.
From New York Times ● Mar. 19, 2015
"Oh, Nick," she snivels with self-pity, "it takes so long to have a baby, you forget what made it seem like a good idea in the first place."
From Time Magazine Archive
Then they lay quiet, panting, listening to Robert's frightened snivels.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
"You know what, I, I, I, find that ludicrous. But if it's the case, maybe you'll win a Pulitzer for that," he sniveled.
From Salon ● May 9, 2022
In a surprisingly involved moment, the character cowered and sniveled as the desire for vengeance coursed through me.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2010
He sniveled: "S'elp me, Hi honly done it to sive a few bob t'buy warm clothes for me wife an' child!"
From Time Magazine Archive
“A lot of good that does me,” the C.I.D. man sniveled.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
But even as the banker sniveled something that made Marlena blanch and stare in horror at her bowl of clam chowder, posters were being slapped up on every surface in town.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
"I didn't realise what I'd done," Tabloid Wayne snivelled to shock Richard Keys and jock Andy Gray in reference to that post-West Ham swearing ballyhoo that folks keep banging on about.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 13, 2011
“I’m numbed, I’m all crushed!” snivelled Ike; nevertheless he managed to crawl out, or rather slip out from under the uplifted rail.
From Ralph on the Overland Express The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer by Allen Chapman
“But, sir,” snivelled Weeks, beginning some explanation, intended no doubt to throw all the blame on me.
From Afloat at Last A Sailor Boy's Log of his Life at Sea by William Heysham Overend
And here are all these people making of themselves—” Miss Tabby stopped and snivelled, and then stopped again to wipe a tear from the tip of her nose.
From Cruel As The Grave by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth
Natty was too much of a man to give way out and out, but he snivelled a little in spite of himself.
From The Coxswain's Bride also, Jack Frost and Sons; and, A Double Rescue by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
She also – gasp – views the sniveling Mr. Collins favorably.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026
Um, it might be the last debate before the Iowa caucuses — it is worth your time, even if you just stoop to name-calling like, “begone you sniveling weasel.”
From Washington Times ● Dec. 6, 2023
Albee caricatures the foppishly professorial Fam as sniveling, ingratiating and insincere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2022
Nathaniel Sullivan sang the King — Edward II, as imagined by Christopher Marlowe then reimagined by Crimp — with sniveling command, the monarch’s weakness to the fore.
From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2022
“He’s gone, the sniveling little weasel,” said Thor, coming in through another of the four doors.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
So she turned up – snivelling – at the band’s dressing room, took photos for 10 minutes, then beat it.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 11, 2019
His face is peppered with sand and the dank, snivelling sky has left his sweatshirt decidedly damp and clammy.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2018
When they are named and shamed they diminish in size from terrifying giants to snivelling slugs.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 28, 2015
She hated how the cops—both cops—were staring at her, like they’d never seen anything so sad or so pathetic before, like she was some snivelling little mangy dog.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 22, 2010
But to himself he said when he had let the lad go snivelling home, “We must get back to the land.”
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
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