as in crying
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Recent Examples of sniffling
Blythe Roberson, New Yorker, 4 June 2026
Then coughing, sniffling and full-on congestion, with or without fever, for a few insufferable days.
—Mary J. Scourboutakos, The Conversation, 14 Nov. 2025
Adjective
All the readers are sneezing, sniffling, congested, feverish, or hacking up a lung.
—Blythe Roberson, New Yorker, 4 June 2026
Then coughing, sniffling and full-on congestion, with or without fever, for a few insufferable days.
—Mary J. Scourboutakos, The Conversation, 14 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sniffling
Adjective
-
But his crying scene in Ford v Ferrari is one for the ages.—
Michael Granberry,
Dallas News,
17 Jan. 2020
Verb
-
Well, certainly a lot of whining about technology.—
Inga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 June 2026
-
The driver is seen singing happily to himself, then glancing out his window with a slight look of concern as the sound of the jet’s whining engines begins on the recording.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 June 2026
Adjective
-
And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.—
David Mamet,
National Review,
11 Aug. 2022
-
The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
8 Dec. 2021
Verb
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But Flynn also oozes sniveling self-righteousness while hotly defending and petitioning for childhood innocence (amusing hints emerge that the daughter is a somewhat lazy and dim underachiever).—
Christopher Smith,
Oc Register,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Faced with the sniveling sum of these failures, Garfield is startled but compassionate.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Sitting opposite an old people’s home in a residential corner of Paris’ 14th arrondissement, La Santé’s unassuming presence is only given away by the occasional wailing siren as prisoners are transported to and from the site.—
Joseph Ataman,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Jurors saw Pino taking deep breaths, crying and sobbing for seven minutes.—
Larry Seward,
CBS News,
8 June 2026
-
Is Marie-Paule’s reaction—to throw herself, sobbing, to the ground—authentic, or more of a performance or a ritual?—
Deborah Treisman,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Adjective
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Multiple responders then grasped the canine by the neck and back to lift it onboard, during which the dog could be heard slightly whimpering.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
28 Jan. 2026
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Only this version of Slattery is a whimpering scaredy-cat, who unleashes the beast within at a key moment in the film.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The pearl-clutchers are stuck in the past, blubbering over things like the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War or the Waffen-SS slaughtering 84 American soldiers captured in Malmedy, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge.—
Doug McIntyre,
Oc Register,
7 Dec. 2025
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Wanting to make Lambert more than some blubbering wreck, Cartwright emphasized her common sense.—
Matthew Jacobs,
Vulture,
26 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sniffling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sniffling. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
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