snivel

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verb sniv·el \ˈsni-vəl\

Definition of snivel

sniveled

snivelled

;

sniveling

snivelling

play \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

play \ˈsni-və-lər, ˈsniv-lər\ noun

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Examples of snivel in a Sentence

millionaires sniveling about their financial problems
“Woe is me,” she sniveled.

Recent Examples of snivel from the Web

On Sunday we were reintroduced to the Hilltop, a place of relative plenty — including lots of food, an obstetrician and apparently a big ol’ tractor — overseen by a sniveling degenerate named Gregory.

— jeremy egner, New York Times, "‘The Walking Dead’ Season 7, Episode 5: Maggie Takes Charge," 20 Nov. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'snivel.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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.