snivel
Americanverb (used without object)
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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
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weak, whining, or pretended weeping.
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a light sniffle, as in weeping.
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a hypocritical show of feeling.
a sentimental snivel.
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mucus running from the nose.
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(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
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(intr) to have a runny nose
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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snivelsimple
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snivelssimple
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have sniveledperfect
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have snivelledperfect
-
has sniveledperfect
-
has snivelledperfect
-
am snivelingprogressive
-
am snivellingprogressive
-
are snivelingprogressive
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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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Instead of "Said": Words For Sad Speech
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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
The Yorkshire Post declared: "Drivel and snivel, in days of challenge and strain, may almost be classed as a minor form of Fifth Column activity."
From Time Magazine Archive
It is a question of audience psychology, of knowing what will make the playgoing mass guffaw, snivel, clap its hands.
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
He snivels and squints into the distance, searching the stony brown hills.
From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell
"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
He sniveled, crying in a way that hadn’t been acceptable since he was a real little kid.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
Piggy sniveled and Simon shushed him quickly as though he had spoken too loudly in church.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
"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
"Yes, I am," snivelled Pip, flattening his face against the wall, "and all the boys hate me, and say I've killed King, and—O dear!" he whined.
From Ben Pepper by Margaret Sidney
"Bless you, Mrs. Burnett!" snivelled the Baron, not ashamed of dabbing his eyes with his kerchief.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, December 24, 1892 by Sir F. C. (Francis Cowley) Burnand
“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
He never had no show; he never went a-slidin' like the other little fellers,” said Caleb, suddenly, out of his corner; and he snivelled as he spoke.
From Pembroke A Novel by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman
Those sequences are so terrifying because you're reduced to this sniveling child character, and it felt different from the types of characters that we usually see you play, which are so headstrong and confident.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2025
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
I’d expect Matthew Macfadyen to repeat as the sniveling Tom Wambsgans, but he could split the vote with the likes of Alexander Skarsgård, Nicholas Braun and possibly others.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2023
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
She seemed like such a sniveling, cowardly fool that no one bothered about her until there were only a handful of contestants left.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
His face is peppered with sand and the dank, snivelling sky has left his sweatshirt decidedly damp and clammy.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2018
It would be hard for Bob to see through that façade to the shy, mousy-haired, snivelling idiot she’d been at fourteen.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 12, 2011
The comedian who found fame as the skinny, snivelling half of Laurel and Hardy was brought up by his maternal grandmother at 3 Argyll Street for the first six years of his life.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 15, 2011
Incredibly, some snivelling types continue to snipe at the mighty champion, pointing out that none of those wins has come by more than two and a half lengths.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 30, 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
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.
