snigger

English

Alternative forms

• snicker

Etymology

British variant pronunciation and spelling of snicker. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsnɪɡɚ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsnɪɡə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɪɡə(ɹ)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

snigger (plural sniggers)

1. (chiefly UK, Ireland) A partly suppressed or broken laugh.
   • 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 255:

     Here the unfeeling Toad broke into a snigger, and then pulled himself together and tried to look particularly solemn.

2. (chiefly UK, Ireland) A sly or snide laugh.

Translations

A partly suppressed or broken laugh

• Bulgarian: хихикане (bg) n (hihikane)
• Italian: risatina (it) f
• Russian: смешо́к (ru) m (smešók), хихи́канье (ru) n (xixíkanʹje)

a sly or snide laugh

• Bulgarian: подсмиване (bg) n (podsmivane)
• French: ricanement (fr) m
• Greek: χαχανητό (el) pl (chachanitó)

Verb

snigger (third-person singular simple present sniggers, present participle sniggering, simple past and past participle sniggered)

1. (intransitive, chiefly UK, Ireland) To emit a snigger.
   • 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, pages 21–22:

     […] presently the Mole's spirits revived again, and he was even able to give some straight back-talk to a couple of moorhens who were sniggering to each other about his bedraggled appearance.

   • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

     Peter, after the manner of man at the breakfast table, had allowed half his kedgeree to get cold and was sniggering over a letter. Sophia looked at him sharply. The only letter she had received was from her mother. Sophia's mother was not a humourist.

   • 2025 August 30, Jo Ellison, “Taylor Swift is entering her conservative era”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 20:

     That said, I still find it hard not to snigger when I hear [Travis] Kelce described as being the Kansas City Chiefs' tight end.

Usage notes

This term can be seen as offensive by those unaware of its etymology and meaning, especially in North America, because it can be misinterpreted as a variant or masking of the racial slur nigger. The two words are unrelated, both in etymology and meaning. In the British Isles, snigger is much more common than snicker and unlikely to be mistaken for a slur. Elsewhere, snicker is the more common term, which increases the likelihood of snigger being mistaken for a slur.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:laugh

Translations

to emit a snigger

• Bulgarian: хихикам (bg) (hihikam)
• Dutch: gniffelen (nl), stiekem lachen
• French: ricaner (fr)
• German: kichern (de)
• Ido: ridetar (io)
• Maori: tīhohe
• Russian: посме́иваться (ru) (posméivatʹsja), хихи́кать (ru) (xixíkatʹ)
• Swedish: fnissa (sv)

Anagrams

• gingers, niggers, serging