How to spell sniff

hear itsniff/snɪf/verbSounds

What it means: To smell by inhaling through the nose.

In a sentence: The dog likes to sniff around the garden.

The part people get wrong

Watch for double f. Often misspelled as snif or sniffe.

Same family: sniffing, sniffed, sniffer, sniffle, sniffles. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Sniff” likely comes from Middle English or Low German words imitating the sound of quickly breathing in through the nose. It’s an example of onomatopoeia, where the word sounds a bit like the action it describes.

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

Words like this

snack · staff · stuffed animal · sneak · sneeze · snap

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