🤧 A mild cold 👃 To sniff repeatedly

sniffles

1 1.8

A mild cold that makes your nose run or feel blocked

noun
/ˈsnɪfəlz/

: resfriado

But now people are getting these sore throats as one of the initial signs that can be quite severe and realizing this isn't just a sniffle that goes away.

We're built to handle some fucking sniffles and a little time out.

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Examples

When the allergy season starts, many people suffer from sniffles and sneezing.
I woke up with the sniffles, one of these, right, right.

Rich Roll
And I feel a lot more energy, you know, I'm not getting sick sniffles, anything like that at all.

Tom Bilyeu
So the health is getting better though we both got allergies or sniffles or something happening right now.
I kind of got the sniffles here just a little bit sniffling and snuffling my way through the plane here.
After spending time outside, I came home with a case of the sniffles and a runny nose.
He couldn't concentrate in class because he had the sniffles and felt miserable.

Synonyms

cold

vssniffles

171 1.0

A common virus infection of the nose and throat

is a milder nasal focused condition rather than a full respiratory infection

head cold

vssniffles

5 1.8

A mild viral sickness that makes your nose stuffy, causes sneezing, and may give you a headache

is a mild symptom only condition not a whole viral infection

rhinitis

vssniffles

Specialized

2 6.8

An illness that makes the inside of the nose swollen and runny

is a mild symptom condition rather than a medical tissue inflammation

rhinorrhea

vssniffles

Specialized

1 9.9

A long runny nose with watery mucus often from a cold or allergies

is a mild illness with runny or stuffy nose rather than only discharge

stuffiness

vssniffles

1 3.1

A blocked nose or throat that makes breathing hard

is a mild illness causing runny or stuffy nose rather than only blockage

How Severe

flu

354 1.0

cold

171 1.0

sniffles

1 1.8

Surface Forms

sniffles singular

sniffles plural

Morphology

sniffles = sniffle (semi-transparent) = sniff + le + s

The illness sense 'the sniffles' is an extension from repeated sniffs and is somewhat idiomatic, so learners may not deduce the illness meaning purely from the parts.

Etymology

Sniffles comes from the simple sound sniff, meaning 'a quick breath in through the nose', plus the small-action ending -le. So sniffles means 'small repeated sniffs' and by extension a mild cold or a runny nose.