Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use sniff in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun, interjection

Sniff means to make a short, audible inhalation, through the nose, as when smelling something; to smell (something). Example: “The dog sniffed around the park, searching for a nice scent.”

Examples of sniff by meaning

verbTo make a short, audible inhalation, through the nose, as when smelling something; to smell (something).

  • The dog sniffed around the park, searching for a nice scent.
  • I sniffed the meat to see whether it had gone off.
  • “What's that terrible pong, then?” said Mr Bennett, sniffing.1970, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 21

verbTo say (something) while sniffing, such as in case of illness or unhappiness, or in contempt.

  • "He's never coming back, is he?" she sniffed while looking at a picture of him.

verbTo inhale drugs (usually cocaine) through the nose, usually in powder form.

  • Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.1980, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, directors, Airplane!, spoken by Steve McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges)

verbTo be dismissive or contemptuous of something; used with at.

  • This opportunity is not to be sniffed at.

verbTo perceive vaguely.

  • I don't know, of course, what your precious Radicals are planning to do, and I don't want to know; but I can sniff trouble in the air, nevertheless.1952, Isabelle Hughes, Lorena Telforth, page 223

nounAn instance of sniffing.

  • She gave the flowers a quick sniff to check they were real.

nounA brief perception, or tiny amount.

  • Telecoms firms want a sniff, having invested heavily in ultra-fast, low-latency 5G spectrum.2021 December 18, “The billionaire battle for the metaverse”, in The Economist, →ISSN

nounCocaine.

  • He sold us some sniff and blow.2008, Tammy Anderson, Neither Villain nor Victim

More sentences with sniff

  • Because they have far more powerful noses than humans, dogs are ideal to sniff out drugs.From the entry sniff out
  • But does it pass the sniff test?From the entry sniff test
  • Sniffing is a semireflex response to a new smell.From the entry semireflex
  • I'm fine with amberlamps, but low sniffing helicopters make me reach for my RPG-7.2021 June 29, u/Pixelmite, “The very existence of ambulances causes me pain :(”, in Reddit, archived from the original on 31 Jan 2026. From the entry amberlamps
  • Frank or Mitch probably beaked off to the wrong person and they came sniffing around.2019, A.F. Henley, Road Trip. From the entry beak off
  • Daisy untied the bow and pulled open the bag to sniff the creamy brown-sugary goodies.2017, Julie Miller, Military Grade Mistletoe, Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN, page 20. From the entry brown-sugary
  • Debbie sniffed the aroma in the air coming from the kitchen.2014, David Luck, Southern Fried Life, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 8. From the entry crawfishy
  • A mangy dog is sniffing around the edges of the car park.2011 August 1, Nick Alexander, Good Thing Bad Thing, Atlantic Books Ltd, →ISBN. From the entry skitty
  • After sniffing her toilet bowl (hey—anything in the name of science!), I said, "Pee-ew!"2010, Lissa Rankin, What's Up Down There?, page 318. From the entry pee-ew
  • Imps see pixies as uppity, giggly snobs, sniffing too many snootfuls of pollen.2009, Steve Berman, So Fey: Queer Fairy Fiction, page 229. From the entry snootful
  • "Mm, they smell great." Connie closed her eyes and sniffed the sweet scent of anisette.2009, Margaret Masci, Longing for Wickhaven, Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 115. From the entry pizzel
  • He sniffs himself suspiciously and then flumpfs into the couch, still wearing his peel.2008, Lauren Beukes, “Lerato”, in Moxyland, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire: Angry Robot, published 2010, →ISBN, page 69. From the entry flumpf
  • Only then might she be given a free enough rein to sniff out Sixsmith’s fellow dissidents.2004, David Mitchell, “Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery”, in Cloud Atlas, →ISBN, page 130. From the entry sniff out
  • Some even had book deals and movie producers sniffing around to secure rights to their stories.2003, Jessica Weiner, A very hungry girl: how I filled up on life--and how you can, too!, page 151. From the entry book deal
  • No more protracted sniff tests, no more playing my cards close to the table.2001 February, Melinda Marshall, “You Gotta Have Friends”, in Myrna Blyth, editor, Ladies’ Home Journal, New York, N.Y.: Meredith…. From the entry sniff test
  • “Mmm, smells good, Mummy.” Tessa smiled nostalgically and sniffed the air as she came into the kitchen.1994 January, Martha Schroeder, chapter 8, in The Law of Love, New York, N.Y.: Zebra Books, →ISBN, page 113. From the entry cinnamony
  • My stepmother, Miranda, known appropriately as Randy, sniffed a couple of times.1992, Nancy Pickard, I.O.U., page 4. From the entry randy
  • "A real wet noodle — I wouldn't have had him on a bet," Maxine sniffed.1984, James Sherburne, Poor boy and a long way from home, →ISBN, page 320. From the entry wet noodle
  • They shall speak from their black hearts.” “Pongs a bit,” sniffed Carrot.1970, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 174. From the entry pong
  • It is sniffed with succubine solemnity by Louise and the 7-year-old twins, Jessica and Gregory.1970 April 10, “The Good Witch Of The West”, in Life, page 69. From the entry succubine
  • “Have you seen Kipper?” I wouldn't say she snorted, but she certainly sniffed.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC. From the entry frigidaire
  • I'm sure that if I took even one sniff it would bore me terrifically, too.1954 January 4, “I Get a Kick Out of You”, in Songs for Young Lovers, performed by Frank Sinatra. From the entry kick
  • I was fidgeting a bit, because three dogs were sniffing at my ankles in an interested fashion.1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 35. From the entry kerb
  • He went through a pantomime of examining a joint of meat, with goatish sniffs.1934, George Orwell, chapter 7, in Burmese Days. From the entry goatish
  • She sniffed, too, comprehendingly, and fixed her son with a relentless eye.1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 111. From the entry fix
  • He sniffed Tarka’s hair from rudder to neck, and his nose remained at the neck.1927, Henry William Williamson, Tarka the Otter, Chapter 19. From the entry rudder
  • He sniffed and wiped at his eyes and then he folded the bloodspotted cloth and stuck it into his coat pocket.2021, Michael Farris Smith, chapter 25, in Nick, New York; Boston; London: Little, Brown and Company, page 135. From the entry bloodspotted
  • Unlike dogs, who sniff in order to “get” what an object is, we depend on vision above all our other senses.2017, Bob Berman, Zapped: From Infrared to X-rays, the Curious History of Invisible Light, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, pages 8-9. From the entry light
  • She sniffed and nodded and cried and wailed and keened for her husband, who would never come back to her.2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 113. From the entry keen
  • He sniffed, snuffed, sneezled, snorked, and blinked back tears.2015, Jack Cady, The Off Season. From the entry sneezle

Meaning of sniff

  1. verb To make a short, audible inhalation, through the nose, as when smelling something; to smell (something).
  2. verb To say (something) while sniffing, such as in case of illness or unhappiness, or in contempt.
  3. verb To inhale drugs (usually cocaine) through the nose, usually in powder form.

Full definition of sniff

Questions about sniff in a sentence

How do you use sniff in a sentence?
Sniff is used as a verb, noun and interjection. For example: “The dog sniffed around the park, searching for a nice scent.”
What is a short sentence with sniff?
“But does it pass the sniff test?”
What does sniff mean?
Sniff means to make a short, audible inhalation, through the nose, as when smelling something; to smell (something).

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sniff (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use sniff in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/sniff. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.