snigger

American  

[snig-er] / ˈsnɪg ər /

verb (used with or without object)

1. snicker.

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snigger British  

/ ˈsnɪkə, ˈsnɪɡə /

noun

1. a sly or disrespectful laugh, esp one partly stifled

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verb

1. to utter such a laugh

Other Word Forms

• sniggerer noun
• sniggeringly adverb

Etymology

Origin of snigger

C18: variant of _snicker

Explanation

To snigger is to laugh scornfully, especially when you're trying to hide the fact that you're laughing. Kids might snigger when the biggest show-off in class falls over backward in his seat. You can generally use the verbs snigger and snicker interchangeably. They both mean "to snort with partially suppressed laughter," and both imply a sense of superiority or scorn. You're most likely to snigger at someone when they're being ridiculous or foolish. Experts guess that both versions of this word are imitative in origin.

Example Sentences

You may snigger that the fluffy haired and sequin-loving singer-songwriter is a cheesy anti-poet, fixating on such mortal lines as “No one heard at all, not even the chair.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025

Mr Derry told the inquest in response: "I don't believe that to be correct. The body language and the snigger, I don't recognise that".

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2023

Large parts of the rest of the world would snigger at that.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 28, 2022

As the great Irish commentator Fintan O’Toole has written, that carries “an unpardonable snigger of elite condescension.”

From Washington Post • Nov. 10, 2020

“And you shut up also,” Yossarian told Orr, who had begun to snigger.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller