snivel

snivel
1 of 2
verb
sniv·;el ;sni-v;l
sniveled or snivelled; sniveling or snivelling ;sni-v;-li;  ;sniv-li;
Synonyms of snivel
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
;sni-v;-l;r
;sniv-l;r
 noun
snivel

2 of 2
noun
1
snivels plural, dialect : head cold
2
: an act of sniveling


Did you know?
There's never been anything pretty about sniveling. Snivel, which originally meant simply "to have a runny nose," has an Old English ancestor whose probable form was snyflan. Its lineage includes some other charming words of yore: an Old English word for mucus, snofl; the Middle Dutch word for a head cold, snof; the Old Norse word for snout, which is snoppa; and nan, a Greek verb meaning "to flow." Nowadays, we mostly use snivel as we have since the 1600s: when self-pitying whining is afoot, whether or not such sniveling is accompanied by unchecked nasal flow.

Examples of snivel in a Sentence
Verb
millionaires sniveling about their financial problems
“Woe is me,” she sniveled.
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Verb
Tom Felton, who played the sniveling Slytherin in every Potter film, wrote a tribute to the actress on Instagram.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 28 Sep. 2024

Word History
Etymology
Verb

Middle English, from Old English *snyflan; akin to Dutch snuffelen to snuffle, snuffen to sniff

First Known Use
Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of snivel was in the 14th century
See more words from the same century