snigger
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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sniggers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sniggered,
past participle, past
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sniggering
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sniggersimple
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sniggerssimple
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have sniggeredperfect
-
has sniggeredperfect
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am sniggeringprogressive
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are sniggeringprogressive
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is sniggeringprogressive
-
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
Folks would snigger behind Grandpa’s back but not many would dare repeat it to his face.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Australia is yet to see the best of Smith – he averages 23.16 against them from six one-day internationals - and any suggestions he is Gilchrist's heir will be met by sniggers down under.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2025
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
She could hear sniggers, far off and cruel.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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
I’ve sniggered inwardly at the wide-eyed idiocy of mothers buying hers-and-hers Elsa dresses to wear with their daughters on Halloween.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 13, 2015
“I never bothered to listen to it, but the cover is something I probably sniggered at — I’m sure that’s what it was there for, to snigger at.”
From New York Times ● May 22, 2011
The other girl laughed too and a couple of the boys behind me sniggered.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
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
"Not long ago, they called him 'too extreme,' 'aggressively and dangerously wrong' and 'downright dangerous,'" Baker wrote in sniggering prose.
From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2020
Popular music videos of the day would play out, while a couple of sniggering delinquents sat back and ripped them apart.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 26, 2018
As much as Tyrion enjoyed sniggering at that, he had come to prefer taking his meals alone.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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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.
