sniffle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
sniffles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sniffled,
past participle, past
-
sniffling
present participle
noun
-
sniffles
plural
-
an act or sound of sniffling.
-
(the) sniffles, a condition, as a cold, marked by sniffling.
This draft is giving me the sniffles.
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
snifflesimple
-
snifflessimple
-
have sniffledperfect
-
has sniffledperfect
-
am snifflingprogressive
-
are snifflingprogressive
-
is snifflingprogressive
-
have been snifflingperfect progressive
-
has been snifflingperfect progressive
Past
-
sniffledsimple
-
had sniffledperfect
-
was snifflingprogressive
-
were snifflingprogressive
-
had been snifflingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sniffle
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:
Getting here now — typing away while I sniffle with a cold, a life I wouldn’t change for the world — required carefully deflating a rapidly overblown ego.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
While the coyote’s expressive yellow eyes nearly make you sniffle, he remains a carnivore with sharp black claws.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
She said it began with a "sniffle and a little cough" and he died just a week later.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2023
It’s a sniffle, a tickle in the throat and a headache.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 30, 2022
Afterward she’d cry and sniffle for a while, but just when I thought she had a grip on herself it would start all over again.
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
It made parents more wary of illness, so when children get sniffles, they want to keep them off.
From BBC ● May 5, 2025
To deliver sentiment, the film instead relies on a score that sniffles as though a racehorse is being taken out to get shot.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2024
And if you must leave the house and go anywhere there’s a crowd and have symptoms such as sniffles, “wear a mask,” Ovsepyan said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2024
Fall and winter bring higher circulation of sniffles, sneezes and coughs.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2023
Brie’s voice breaks and she sniffles, waving one hand in front of her face as if that might dry the tears that have started falling.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
At the premiere, fans sang along to the classics and sniffled during “Younger You.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2026
He sniffled as the postgame news conference was about to begin.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 26, 2023
Subsequent jurors held back tears, or sniffled, their faces distraught.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 11, 2022
I’d never seen soprano Christine Goerke in such a state: Her voice cracked, her nose sniffled, her face turned bright red.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 13, 2022
One of them might have sniffled, or whimpered, or I might have made that all up just straining to hear something in the little bubble of silence around us.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
For the 23-year-old Christmas can be a particularly difficult time as the sounds of other people, chewing, slurping and sniffling make her feel extremely uncomfortable.
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2025
Lying would be obvious if you’re not coughing, sniffling or sneezing, and insulting to the other person.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
“I don’t really know where you go from here,” Cain said, sniffling.
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2025
Are we still paying off our pandemic-induced “immunity debt,” or is there another reason that it feels like we’re all sniffling and coughing and just feeling sick?
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2024
“My husband,” the sniffling woman on the other end of the line said, “is dying and it seems that...”
From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
