Meanings
plural snorts
- The sound made by exhaling or inhaling roughly through the nose.
"I absolutely refuse to leave, however, until we have made at least a superficial examination of this country, and are able to take back with us something in the nature of a chart." Professor Summerlee gave a snort of impatience.
1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC - slangA consumed portion of an alcoholic drink.
She unlocked the top drawer of the roll-top desk, took out a bottle and a glass and poured herself a snort.
1945, John Steinbeck, Cannery Row2 more examples
Everybody tipped up the jug and took a snort of whisky and followed it with a gourd of cool water. We thought a snort of whisky now and then braced us up some and put a little more lift in us.
1951, Indiana Historical Society Publications, volumes 16-17, page 157"It won't buy you any wine," Paxton told him. "I know that," the drunk replied in an insulted tone. "It's a pussy pass, ain't it?" Paxton grinned wearily. "How would you know that? You'd rather have a snort than a screw any day."
1978, George G. Gilman, Edge: Red River, Pinnacle Books, →ISBN, page 45
present singular third person snorts · participle present snorting · participle past snorted · past snorted
- intransitiveTo make a snort; to exhale roughly through the nose.
She snorted with laughter.
1 more example
Disembarkation seemed a slow business. From the deck one watched a "Merchant Navy" Pacific drift lazily along the track beside the wall of the Marine Station, and little South Eastern tanks go snorting fussily about.
1946 January and February, 'Talisman', “Bückeburg to Aberayron”, in Railway Magazine, page 41 - transitiveTo express or force out by snorting.
He snorted a derisory reply and turned on his heel.
- intransitiveTo express contempt or disgust by (or as if by) a snorting sound.
Back in 2018, the body representing the water industry was snorting at Gove’s aspersions, declaring hotly that it looked forward to its pet regulator “bringing some sorely needed facts and balance to the debate”.
2023 June 30, Marina Hyde, “The tide is coming in fast on Rishi Sunak – and it’s full of sewage”, in The Guardian - intransitiveobsoleteTo snore.
the snorting citizens
c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo inhale (usually a drug) through the nose.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna cry or noise made to express displeasure or contempt
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishfnora
- Old English*fnorettan
- Middle Englishsnorten
- Englishsnort
From Middle English snorten, from earlier fnorten, from Old English *fnorettan, related to Middle English snoren, fnoren, from Old English fnora. See snore and sneeze for more on the change from fn- to sn-.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek φρυάσσω
- φρυάσσω (phruássō)to exhale roughly through the nose
Bulgarian сумтене, сумтя
- сумтене (sumtene)sound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- сумтя (sumtja)to exhale roughly through the nose
- смъркам (smărkam)to inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Catalan esbufec, esbufegar
- esbufecsound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- esbufegarto exhale roughly through the nose
Chinese Mandarin 哼
- 哼 (hēng)to exhale roughly through the nose
Czech frknutí, odfrknutí
- frknutísound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- odfrknutísound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- lajnadose of drug to be snorted
- frknoutto exhale roughly through the nose
- frkatto exhale roughly through the nose
- šňupatto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
- šňupnout (si)to inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Dutch snuiven, snuiven
- snuivensound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- snuivento inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Finnish korskahdus, nuuhkaus
- korskahdussound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- nuuhkausdose of drug to be snorted
- viivadose of drug to be snorted
- korskuato exhale roughly through the nose
- nuuskatato inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
- sniffatato inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
French reniflement, renifler
- reniflementsound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- reniflerto exhale roughly through the nose
- snifferto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
German Schnauben, schnupfen
- Schnaubensound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- schnupfento exhale roughly through the nose
- schnaubento exhale roughly through the nose
- schnupfento inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
- sniffento inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Hebrew הִסְנִיף
- הִסְנִיף (hisníf)to inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Hungarian tüsszent, prüszköl
- tüsszentto exhale roughly through the nose
- prüszkölto exhale roughly through the nose
- horkantto exhale roughly through the nose
Italian sbuffo, sbuffata
- sbuffosound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- sbuffatasound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- sbuffareto exhale roughly through the nose
- sniffareto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Japanese 鳴らす
- 鳴らす (narasu)to exhale roughly through the nose
Māori kuruwhengu, peru
- kuruwhengusound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- perusound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- horusound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- whenguto exhale roughly through the nose
- horuto exhale roughly through the nose
- peruto exhale roughly through the nose
- horuhoruto exhale roughly through the nose
Norwegian Bokmål fnys
- fnyssound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
Polish parskanie, fukanie
- parskaniesound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- fukaniesound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- prychaniesound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- sapaniesound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- fyrkaćto exhale roughly through the nose
- fyrknąćto exhale roughly through the nose
- parskaćto exhale roughly through the nose
- parsknąćto exhale roughly through the nose
- prychaćto exhale roughly through the nose
- prychnąćto exhale roughly through the nose
Portuguese resfolegar, cheirar
- resfolegarto exhale roughly through the nose
- cheirarto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
- snifarto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Romanian pufăit, pufăi
- pufăitsound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- pufăito exhale roughly through the nose
- trage pe nasto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Russian фы́рканье, шмы́ганье
- фы́рканье (fýrkanʹje)sound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- шмы́ганье (šmýganʹje)sound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- понюшка (ponjuška)dose of drug to be snorted
- фы́ркать (fýrkatʹ)to exhale roughly through the nose
- фы́ркнуть (fýrknutʹ)to exhale roughly through the nose
- вдыха́ть (vdyxátʹ)to inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
- вдохну́ть (vdoxnútʹ)to inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Scottish Gaelic srannartaich
- srannartaichsound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
Slovak fŕkať, fŕkať
- fŕkaťsound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- fŕkaťto exhale roughly through the nose
- frknúťto exhale roughly through the nose
- šňupaťto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Spanish resoplar, resoplido
- resoplarsound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- resoplidosound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- bufidosound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- resoplarto exhale roughly through the nose
- bufarto exhale roughly through the nose
- esnifarto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
- jalarto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
- tomarto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
- inhalarto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
- ñatearto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
- esnifiarto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Swedish fnysa, snorta
- fnysasound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- snortato inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
- sniffato inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
- drato inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Turkish burnundan soluma, burnundan solumak
- burnundan solumasound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- burnundan solumakto exhale roughly through the nose
- çekmekto inhale (usually a drug) through the nose
Vietnamese khịt
- khịtto exhale roughly through the nose
Welsh ffroenochi, ffroeni
- ffroenochisound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
- ffroenisound made by exhaling roughly through the nose
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with snort
Cite this entry
snort. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snort
“snort.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snort. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “snort,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/snort.
Source: snort on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.