snooze
Americanverb (used without object)
-
snoozes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
snoozed,
past participle, past
-
snoozing
present participle
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
snoozesimple
-
snoozessimple
-
have snoozedperfect
-
has snoozedperfect
-
am snoozingprogressive
-
are snoozingprogressive
-
is snoozingprogressive
-
have been snoozingperfect progressive
-
has been snoozingperfect progressive
Past
-
snoozedsimple
-
had snoozedperfect
-
was snoozingprogressive
-
were snoozingprogressive
-
had been snoozingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of snooze
First recorded in 1780–90; origin uncertain
Explanation
When you snooze, you take a quick nap during the day. Nobody snoozes for too long though, because then you’d just call it "sleeping." Maybe you’ve fallen asleep in class before, dozed off while watching a movie, or snoozed for a minute while learning some new vocabulary. Wake up, sleepyhead! Snoozing is a light type of sleep, probably without dreams even. If you like reading at the beach, make sure you’re wearing sunscreen in case you snooze off.
Vocabulary lists containing snooze
The Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer
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"Pitch Perfect," Vocabulary from the movie
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Festival of Sleep Day
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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:
Instead, the “CBS Mornings” co-host hits snooze three times before taking a bubble bath.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
It was over in a flash, with half a dozen songs or so, meaning for the tens of thousands of campers here it was a literal case of if you snooze, you lose.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
That may be a nice lesson to learn, but it’s a real snooze to watch.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
That’s no big deal if you’re going to binge movies or TV shows for hours or snooze the flight away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
“I wish they would cut the snooze music. Especially that violin player. What’s her name? Izzy?”
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
If kids can grow out of their pretend pals, so too can horror audiences of cynical snoozes like this.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
In Rest Mode, the ring snoozes your activity goals and readjusts your scores to prioritize recovery.
From The Verge ● Nov. 10, 2021
The place is so quiet that a dog snoozes at the main entrance, undisturbed.
From New York Times ● Aug. 22, 2019
The artist snoozes in a piece that projects her reclining form on the wall and several standing cylinders, so that her face bends around one of the curved tubes.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 26, 2019
Alex points at Cocoa as she snoozes in my lap.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Others took inventory of the hastily packed belongings in their trunks or snoozed as comfortably as they could in plastic chairs at the evacuation site.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026
A family of four adults on vacation happily snoozed in their pods with eye masks on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
I snoozed, and I lost: Not only did I not snag a seat in the actual courtroom, but the media-overflow room was the most packed it’s been the entire trial.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2023
He snoozed quietly for half an hour, and then entered a more active sleep stage, his skin cycling through colors and textures used for camouflage — typical behavior for a cephalopod.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2023
However, Miss Penelope Lumley snoozed through the whole business and knew nothing about it.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Thirty years ago L.A. firefighters found children sleeping in closets and babies snoozing in dresser drawers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
About all they’re hitting is the snooze button — snoozing and, on Wednesday, losing 4-1 to the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
While some of you were snoozing off to the Oscars, I was giddy to see what happened when Dumper met up with Mariners star Julio Rodriguez in Team USA’s highly-awaited game against the Dominican Republic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
We also have the means to purchase a purebred pet from a woman who raises her cats in an immaculate home, where they take turns snoozing on a blanket in front of a fireplace.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2024
Three days later, with an anguished groan, Herbie chopped his first snake in two: it had been curled up on his sleeping bag, happily snoozing in the glow of his bodily warmth, when he awoke.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
