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Glite Dictionary
🤧 A mild cold 👃 To sniff repeatedly
to sniffles

to sniffles

2.8
To take small breaths in through the nose, often when sad or having a cold
  • verb
  • /ˈsnɪfəlz/
translation icon : sonar la nariz
  • After spending the night in the cold, I could not stop sniffling because of my runny nose.

Examples

  • Guy came up to me yesterday with tears running down his face sniffling and said your show stinks.

  • So sorry, I'm sniffling because it is freezing out.

  • So she's got that annoying thing you sniffling got that annoying thing where she can't taste any food properly, which sucks.

  • He stood in front of the class, sniffling softly as he tried to hold back his tears.

  • Whenever she feels sad, she starts sniffling even if she doesn't cry out loud.

Synonyms

to sniff
vsto sniffles
266 1.0

To breathe in through the nose to smell something or because of a cold

is specifically repeated small inhalations for cold or sadness, not smelling
to sniffle
vsto sniffles
18 2.3

To breathe noisily through the nose, often because of a cold or crying

is the same meaning but appears as a third person present form
to snuffle
vsto sniffles
1 6.2

To breathe loudly through a blocked nose because of a cold or crying

is milder small inhalations often not implying congestion
snuffling
vsto sniffles
6.4

Making soft repeated sniffing sounds because of a blocked or runny nose

is the more general small inhalations, not just the noisy ongoing sound
to snivel
vsto sniffles
8.1

To draw mucus up through the nose quietly

is about small nasal inhalations for cold or sadness, not mucus clearing

How Noisy

to sneeze
66 1.0
to sniffles
2.8
to breathe
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

sniffle infinitive
sniffled past
sniffled past participle
sniffling present participle
sniffles third person singular

Morphology

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

The verb is a straightforward formation from 'sniff' + frequentative '-le', with '-s' as the third-person singular inflection.

Etymology

Sniffles as a verb is made from sniff plus -le, so it means 'to make small sniffs', like quiet breaths through the nose when you have a cold or feel sad.