snivel

1 of 2

verb

sniv·​el ˈsni-vəl 

sniveled or snivelled; sniveling or snivelling ˈsni-və-liŋ 

ˈsniv-liŋ

intransitive verb

1

: to run at the nose

2

: to snuff mucus up the nose audibly : snuffle

3

: to cry or whine with snuffling

4

: to speak or act in a whining, sniffling, tearful, or weakly emotional manner

sniveler

ˈsni-və-lər 

ˈsniv-lər

noun

snivel

2 of 2

noun

1

snivels plural, dialect : head cold

2

: an act of sniveling

Did you know?

There's never been anything pretty about sniveling. Snivel, which originally meant simply "to have a runny nose," was probably snyflan in Old English. It's likely related to sniffle, not surprisingly, and also to an Old English word for mucus, snofl. It's even related to the Middle Dutch word for a cold, snof, and the Old Norse word for "snout," which is snoppa. There's also a connection to nan, a Greek verb meaning "flow." Nowadays, we mostly use snivel as we have since the 1600s: to refer to self-pitying whining, whether or not such sniveling is accompanied by unchecked nasal flow.

Examples of snivel in a Sentence

Verb

millionaires sniveling about their financial problems

“Woe is me,” she sniveled.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Tom Felton, who played the sniveling Slytherin in every Potter film, wrote a tribute to the actress on Instagram. —Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 28 Sep. 2024

Still, the war between the virtuous Autobots and the sniveling Decepticons has enough sheer weirdness to it to serve as inspiration for compelling fiction, even if Michael Bay has never managed to crack that code. —Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2024

But any hopes of a warm and fuzzy family reunion were dashed in the Season 3 finale, when Soldier Boy called Homelander weak and sniveling. —Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 18 July 2024

Gollum feels some guilt, finally Photo: New Line Cinema Serkis does a fantastic job in The Two Towers bouncing back and forth between the aggressive and conniving Gollum and the needy and sniveling Smeagol as the creature grows close to Frodo but is also increasingly drawn to the One Ring. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 14 Feb. 2024

And is too much to have the sniveling Scots swim coach (Christopher Eccleston) actually heave a radio through the nearest window pane at a key moment? —Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 31 May 2024

Like what, low-crawling out of town like a bunch of sniveling cowards? —Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Feb. 2024

Succession did a lot of things right — hiring Nicholas Britell to compose its instantly delectable theme music and score the show, turning Mr. Darcy into the sniveling sycophant that is Tom Wambsgans, making Willa write the flop play Sands that bankrupts her sugar daddy. —Vulture, 21 Dec. 2023

In 1961, for a conference convened by Lefebvre himself, the S.I. submitted a tape recording—attending would have suggested a sniveling reverence for expertise. —Tobi Haslett, Harper's Magazine, 18 Sep. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English *snyflan; akin to Dutch snuffelen to snuffle, snuffen to sniff

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

snivel

verb

sniv·​el

ˈsniv-əl

sniveled or snivelled; sniveling or snivelling

-(ə-)liŋ

1

: to draw mucus up the nose loud enough to be heard

2

: to cry or whine with sniffling

3

: to speak or act in a whining manner

sniveler

-(ə-)lər

noun