snivel
Americanverb (used without object)
-
snivels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sniveled,
past participle, past
-
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
-
weak, whining, or pretended weeping.
-
a light sniffle, as in weeping.
-
a hypocritical show of feeling.
a sentimental snivel.
-
mucus running from the nose.
-
(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
-
(intr) to have a runny nose
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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snivelsimple
-
snivelssimple
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have sniveledperfect
-
have snivelledperfect
-
has sniveledperfect
-
has snivelledperfect
-
am snivelingprogressive
-
am snivellingprogressive
-
are snivelingprogressive
-
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
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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
Basketball's all-time biggest draw retires to the golf links, the second-rate wannabes he turned into multimillionaires snivel about their economic hardship, and the league still finds ways to fill the tent.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
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
The South that simpers, storms and snivels in these pages moves along a sort of up-to-date Tobacco Road, paved right into town.
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
“Your clothes look cool to me,” Otto sniveled.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
“A lot of good that does me,” the C.I.D. man sniveled.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
"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
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
She snivelled a little as she began her story, but soon became more calm.
From Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls by Alice Carsey
The greasy string took up the laugh, and snivelled in chorus.
From The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch by Talbot Baines Reed
Abel, sitting near her, snivelled softly for sympathy, not fairly comprehending her cause for tears.
From Jerome, A Poor Man A Novel by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman
And Dastmalchian, who portrays Bison with an emphasis on sniveling evil, struggles to quietly undercut the character’s cartoonishly menacing getup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
They're probably too worried about being fired to ever say anything to him that isn't sniveling agreement with every word.
From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2024
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
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
"Then tell him to come here and demand it himself. I will not bow to his sniveling lackeys."
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
She recalls turning up at the door of their hotel suite, snivelling, in the middle of a downpour.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 31, 2019
Now of course I wasn't really comparing myself – a snivelling worm of a television critic – to Mary Berry, star of television and Queen of the Victoria Sponge.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 30, 2013
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 sullen, steel-grey sky seems to be permanently snivelling sleet.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 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
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