What does "sniffle" mean?

The act, or the sound of sniffling; the condition of having a runny or wet nose, as from a cold or allergies.

What is a synonym for "sniffle"?

Common synonyms include: sniff, snuffle, aqua lung, aqua-lung, artificial respiration, aspirate.

//ˈsnɪf.əl// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Noun

1
The act, or the sound of sniffling; the condition of having a runny or wet nose, as from a cold or allergies.
"I sometimes have a sniffle during allergy season."
2
the act of breathing heavily through the nose (as when the nose is congested) wordnet

Verb

1
To make a whimpering or sniffing sound when breathing, because of a runny nose. intransitive
"Her dad heard her sniffling and passed her a handkerchief."
2
inhale audibly through the nose wordnet
3
To utter with a whimpering or sniffing sound. transitive
"He sniffled a pathetic apology."
4
cry or whine with snuffling wordnet

"Don't sniffle, please quickly blow your nose."

From sniff + -le (frequentative suffix). Compare snivel.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.