SNUFFING Synonyms: 60 Similar and Opposite Words

snuffing

verb

present participle of snuff

as in sniffing

to become aware of by means of the sense organs in the nose the dog began barking as soon as she snuffed the scent of squirrel

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in murdering

to put to death deliberately the proprietor of the boarding house had apparently snuffed almost 50 old men before she was caught

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of snuffing Quiet season expected due to El Niño's impacts Forecasts for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season were mostly below-normal due to the storm-snuffing impacts of El Niño. — Doyle Rice, USA Today, 22 July 2026 Holding it all together is the irrepressible Rodri, sweeping up loose balls and snuffing out counter-attacks with a positional awareness few central midfielders match. — Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 20 July 2026 Another method is to cut off oxygen to the fire by using a snuffing lid, then let the fire burn out naturally. — Rae Ford, Martha Stewart, 4 July 2026 The lead secured, Switzerland shifted to a five-man midfield out of possession, snuffing out the space and challenging the Algerians to play through it, but Petkovic’s charges struggled to break their opponents down. — Reuters, NBC news, 3 July 2026 The lefty has premium stuff and showed it again Thursday, snuffing out Seattle’s best chance to win the game. — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026 Singleton perhaps should have taken the credit for snuffing out one of the league’s best and doing so on National Tight Ends Day, no less. — Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 27 Oct. 2025 From accidental black holes to worries that chemical experiments might suddenly freeze all Earth’s oceans, this is the story of concerns scientists are on the brink of discovering exotic, deadly new forms of matter or life that might quickly spread, snuffing us out. — Thomas Moynihan, Big Think, 15 Sep. 2025 Sneaking up and snuffing an enemy requires engaging in CQC (close quarters combat), which lets players grab a bad guy to choke, interrogate, or outright body slam. — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 22 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for snuffing

Verb

Safe and smart practices for walking your dog Walking your dog is an amazing way to bond with your dog while sharing experiences, and there’s not much more charming than the sight of a dog sniffing fresh air; however, safety is critical.

— Tanya Edwards, USA Today, 1 Aug. 2026
The woods were dead silent except for the sound of her huffing and sniffing.

— Todd Orr, Outdoor Life, 30 July 2026

Definition of sniffing

Verb

Their son pleaded guilty in October 2022 to murdering four students and injuring several others in the November 2021 shooting at Oxford High School and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

— Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 30 July 2026
On that Sabbath morning, a gunman shot his way into the synagogue, shouting antisemitic invective and murdering 11 worshipers from the three congregations sharing the building — Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life.

— Peter Smith, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026

Definition of murdering

Verb

Utah prosecutors are turning up the heat on Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk, arguing that the evidence against him easily meets the standard required to send the case to trial.

— Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026
Ferrell instead starred as the villainous mogul Jacobim Mugatu, who attempts to brainwash Derek into assassinating the prime minister of Malaysia.

— Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 27 July 2026

Definition of assassinating

Verb

Legionnaires' disease is a severe form of pneumonia that is caused by inhaling the Legionella bacteria in small droplets of water mixed in the air or contaminated water accidentally going into the lungs.

— Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 31 July 2026
Health effects from inhaling wildfire smoke But the effects are sweeping, said Hayden, who has developed real-time mapping of mortality estimates from wildfire smoke.

— Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 18 July 2026

Definition of inhaling

Verb

Symbolism Historically, dragon-slaying stories portrayed the treasure hoard as the ultimate test of a hero’s character.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 July 2026
Foster, 58, was ordered held without bail on Thursday for slaying 39-year-old Julia Anderson during a property dispute, cops said.

— Emma Seiwell, New York Daily News, 18 July 2026

Definition of slaying

Verb

Smaller teams of high-agency engineers and builders are managing fleets of agents rather than executing every task by hand.

— Michael Wee, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2026
Hugging Face, for its part, published a forensic timeline, describing how the autonomous AI system spent four and a half days executing 17,600 distinct hacking actions across multiple organizations — without direct involvement by any humans.

— Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of executing

Verb

In March, Nebraska’s Morrill Fire tore through 642,000 acres to become the largest in state history, killing one person and razing vast stretches of cattle country.

— Martin Goillandeau, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026
In 2016, wildlife officials closed 183 miles (295 kilometers) of the Yellowstone River to fishing, rafting and other activities to prevent a parasite suspected of killing tens of thousands of fish from spreading further in the low and warm water.

— Matthew Brown, Fortune, 1 Aug. 2026