snifter
Syllables: snift·er/ˈsnɪftə/US/ˈsnɪftəɹ/
snifter verb: to sniff; also, to snivel or snuffle.
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Verb
snifter (third-person singular simple present snifters, present participle sniftering, simple past and past participle sniftered)
- To sniff; also, to snivel or snuffle.
- Brouffer. To ſnurt, or ſnifter vvith the noſe, like a horſe.1611, Randle Cotgrave, compiler, “Brouffer”, in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, signature [M vj], verso, column 1
- Nifler. To ſnifter, or ſnuffe vp ſniuell; to dravv it vp by dravving in the vvind.1611, Randle Cotgrave, compiler, “Nifler”, in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, signature Kkk, recto, column 1
- Followed by out: to speak (words) in a nasal, snuffling manner.
Noun
snifter (plural snifters)
- A sniff.
- A strong or severe wind.
- A small, wide, pear-shaped glass used for drinking aromatic liquors such as bourbon and brandy.
- [H]e springs to another wooden vat and turns a valve, filling a snifter with a warm amber liquid. […] Bang holds the liquid up to the light, swirls it around, takes a sniff of the pungent bouquet, puts the glass to his lips—and gives a satisfied smile.2003 January 20, “Getting Saucy”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2012
- Synonyms:
- brandy bowl, brandy glass, brandy snifter, cognac glass, whiskey glass
- Synonym of nip (“a small amount of an alcoholic beverage, especially one equivalent to what a snifter (noun sense 2.2) might hold”)
- "Sit down, bo," invited Soup Face. "I guess you're a regular all right. Here, have a snifter?" and he pulled a flask from his side pocket, holding it toward The Oskaloosa Kid.1917 (date written), Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Oakdale Affair”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., published March 1918, →OCLC; republished Doylestown, Pa.: Wildside Press...
- And now, old horse, you may lead me across the street to the Coal Hole for a short snifter.1923 June, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “The Début of Battling Billson”, in Ukridge, London: Herbert Jenkins […], published 3 June 1924, →OCLC, page 56
- Synonyms:
- nip
- Synonym of cocaine addict; a sniffer.
- Synonyms:
- cocaine addict
- A small amount of cocaine taken by inhaling through the nose.
- A handheld device used to detect signals from radio transmitters; a sniffer.
Synonyms of snifter
Forms of snifter
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | snifters |
| present participle | sniftering |
| past participle | sniftered |
| past | sniftered |
| Noun | |
| plural | snifters |
Origin of snifter
The verb is derived from Middle English snifteren, snifter, snyfter (“to sniffle”), possibly from *snift (possibly derived from an Old Norse word—compare Old Danish snifte and Swedish snyfta (“to sniffle; to sob”); probably ultimately imitative) + -er- (frequentative suffix) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). The noun is derived from the verb.
Words formed from snifter
Phrases with snifter
Words that rhyme with snifter
Questions about snifter
- What does snifter mean?
- Snifter means to sniff; also, to snivel or snuffle.
- What part of speech is snifter?
- Snifter can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce snifter?
- Snifter is pronounced /ˈsnɪftə/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of snifter?
- The past tense of snifter is sniftered.
Words near snifter in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: snifter (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-snifter.wav.
Cite this entry: “snifter.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/snifter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.