Meaning & use
snuffly
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivecomparableinformal
Having a blocked or runny nose and making sniffing sounds, usually from a cold.
Grammar: Gradable: you can be a bit snuffly, very snuffly, or the snuffliest you've ever been.
Patterns
- be snuffly
- feel snuffly
- sound snuffly
The baby was snuffly all night and kept waking up.
I'm feeling a bit snuffly today; I think I'm catching a cold.
She sounded snuffly on the phone, so I told her to rest.
Word forms
| comparative | snufflier |
|---|---|
| superlative | snuffliest |
Common combinations
- feel snuffly
- I feel snuffly and my throat is sore.
- a snuffly nose
- He has a snuffly nose and keeps reaching for tissues.
- sound snuffly
- You sound snuffly; do you have a cold?
Synonyms and how they differ
- sniffly
- Very similar, but 'sniffly' focuses more on the act of sniffing, while 'snuffly' suggests a blocked nose.
- stuffy
- Describes a blocked nose, but not the sniffing sound; you can have a stuffy nose without being snuffly.
Opposites
Word family
- snuffle verb
- To breathe noisily through a blocked nose.
- snuffles noun
- A condition of having a blocked nose, often used for animals like rabbits.
Commonly confused: snuffly or sniffly?
snuffly vs sniffly
Sniffly means tending to sniff, often from crying or a cold, while snuffly suggests a blocked, stuffy nose.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'snuffly' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Snuffly' describes a person with a blocked or runny nose, so 'felt snuffly and kept blowing her nose' fits. Option An is wrong because running doesn't cause a snuffly nose; option B misuses it for food; option D is not a natural use.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “snuffly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.