Synonyms for sniff

Most common

breath · breathe · inhale · whiff · suspect · snort · sniffle

All synonyms

Verb

Noun

Definitions

1. v. 1

   To make a short, audible inhalation, through the nose, as when smelling something; to smell (something).

   I sniffed the meat to see whether it had gone off.

2. n. 1

   An instance of sniffing.

   She gave the flowers a quick sniff to check they were real.

Related words

Word family

sniffle

Phrases

sniff out sniff test

Forms

Plural

sniffs → scents, snuffs, blows, suspicions…

Past participle

sniffed
e.g. sniffed → whiffed, inhaled, breathed, snorted…

Example sentences

• breath The swimmer raised his head and gasped for breath.
• breathe However, they can help him breathe with a machine.
• inhale Be careful not to inhale the spores; they're deadly.
• whiff He had a whiff at my fart and fanned it back to me.
• suspect Doctors suspect smoking has lot to do with cancer.
• snort I don't like the sound the pigs make when they snort.

Popularity over time

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters

blow¹

5 letters

scent¹, whiff¹, snuff¹, snort¹

6 letters

breath¹, inhale²

7 letters

suspect², breathe¹, sniffle²

9 letters

suspicion³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (inhale² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français

renifler

Italiano

annusare

Español

husmear

Deutsch

schnüffeln