snigger

American  

[snig-er] / ˈsnɪg ər /

verb (used with or without object)

1. snicker.

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snigger British  

/ ˈsnɪkə, ˈsnɪɡə /

noun

1. a sly or disrespectful laugh, esp one partly stifled

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verb

1. to utter such a laugh

Other Word Forms

• sniggerer
  noun
• sniggeringly
  adverb

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

The next night, sitting over the cheerful fire and comfortably resting after the labours of the day, I dreamed again, and I saw that Horatio Snigger was “the Office Boy” of Mr. Prigg. 

From The Humourous Story of Farmer Bumpkin's Lawsuit by Harris, Richard

Had he not entered, Ginx's Baby, spite of Snigger, would in twenty-four hours have ceased to supply facts to history.

From Ginx's Baby: his birth and other misfortunes; a satire by Jenkins, Edward

He took no objection as he took the pap; while Snigger was glad to be able to do an unusual kindness without compromising the parish.

From Ginx's Baby: his birth and other misfortunes; a satire by Jenkins, Edward

When the child grew hungry and dangerously thin, he brought bottles of pap prepared by Mrs. Snigger, and administered it to him.

From Ginx's Baby: his birth and other misfortunes; a satire by Jenkins, Edward

Snigger, snig′ėr, v.i. to laugh in a half-suppressed, broken manner.—n. a half-suppressed laugh.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various