snigger
Americanverb (used with or without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sniggersimple
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sniggerssimple
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have sniggeredperfect
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has sniggeredperfect
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am sniggeringprogressive
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are sniggeringprogressive
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is sniggeringprogressive
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have been sniggeringperfect progressive
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has been sniggeringperfect progressive
Past
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sniggeredsimple
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had sniggeredperfect
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was sniggeringprogressive
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were sniggeringprogressive
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had been sniggeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of snigger
C18: variant of snicker
Explanation
To snigger is to laugh scornfully, especially when you're trying to hide the fact that you're laughing. Kids might snigger when the biggest show-off in class falls over backward in his seat. You can generally use the verbs snigger and snicker interchangeably. They both mean "to snort with partially suppressed laughter," and both imply a sense of superiority or scorn. You're most likely to snigger at someone when they're being ridiculous or foolish. Experts guess that both versions of this word are imitative in origin.
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:
You may snigger that the fluffy haired and sequin-loving singer-songwriter is a cheesy anti-poet, fixating on such mortal lines as “No one heard at all, not even the chair.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 24, 2025
Yes, there could be the odd snigger at the quality of some of the opposition, but then there are no freebies in international football.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2023
Large parts of the rest of the world would snigger at that.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 28, 2022
As the great Irish commentator Fintan O’Toole has written, that carries “an unpardonable snigger of elite condescension.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 10, 2020
He felt a little better already, well enough to have a quiet snigger.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
"Little did they know why I was interested!" he sniggers.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2019
This confounded the soothsayers, and thereby insured that any professional predictions as to the result of today’s vote, a year later, have been met with sniggers of disbelief.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 23, 2016
Then there was Jared Leto in a Givenchy suit that largely got the thumbs-up, but was hardly enough to buffer him from the sniggers about his striking resemblance to a certain biblical character.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2016
“I heartily agree with Rod Tucker that standards should be maintained on the cricket pitch,” sniggers Robin Hazlehurst.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 15, 2016
There were sniggers here and there and swift glances.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
Earlier in the inquest, a witness statement said that Alan Derry had a "mocking and unpleasant tone" and "sniggered loudly" in a meeting.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2023
Some people exchanged pleasantries, while others darted their eyes and quietly sniggered.
From Reuters ● Feb. 3, 2022
She understood the cult of sensibility, and sniggered at it.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 15, 2017
At one point this sort of behaviour would have been glorified as rock’n’roll, its buffoonery sniggered at.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 12, 2016
But if I truly did not wish to be sniggered at, my first task would have to be to change my reeking clothing.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
No sniggering jokes now about princely flings and sulky princesses and body doubles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2024
But it’s not the ’90s until two of the most idiotic teenagers return, sniggering along the way.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 26, 2023
She still remembers the shame of standing up in class and others sniggering as she was separated from them.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2021
Remorse must be tempered by a resolution to remain uncouth, just as a professional agreement to play a little ball must be undercut by subversive sniggering.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 17, 2020
But I dread it because it means having to see Karly and Sal, too, smirking and gossiping and sniggering at everyone behind their hands.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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.
