Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1700-1800
Origin: snicker

snigger

 verb
     
snig‧ger [intransitive]
British English to laugh quietly in a way that is not nice at something which is not supposed to be funny [= snicker American English]
snigger at
What are you sniggering at? This is a serious poem.
—snigger noun [countable]
WORD FOCUS: laugh WORD FOCUS: laugh
giggle to laugh repeatedly in a silly way because you are amused, embarrassed, or nervous
snigger to laugh unkindly and quietly, especially at something that is not meant to be funny
chuckle to laugh quietly, especially because you are thinking about something funny
roar/howl with laughter to laugh very loudly because you think something is very funny
be in hysterics to laugh uncontrollably
crack up informal to suddenly start laughing a lot

➔ See also laugh
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary