Word of the Day : November 16, 2020

snivel \SNIV-ul\ verb

Definition

1 : to run at the nose

2 : to snuff mucus up the nose audibly : snuffle

3 : to cry or whine with snuffling

4 : to speak or act in a whining, sniffling, tearful, or weakly emotional manner

Did You Know?

There's never been anything pretty about sniveling. Snivel, which originally meant simply "to have a runny nose," was probably snyflan in Old English. It's likely related to sniffle, not surprisingly, and also to an Old English word for mucus, snofl. It's even related to the Middle Dutch word for a cold, snof, and the Old Norse word for "snout," which is snoppa. There's also a connection to nan, a Greek verb meaning "flow." Nowadays, we mostly use snivel as we have since the 1600s: to refer to self-pitying whining, whether or not such sniveling is accompanied by unchecked nasal flow.

Aired November 16, 2020

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