Definition

1. Noun:

   • A disrespectful or suppressed laugh: A snicker is a quiet, often sly or mocking laugh, typically expressing scorn, amusement at someone else's expense, or an attempt to conceal laughter.
   • A brief, stifled sound of amusement: It refers to the sound itself, a half-suppressed chuckle.

2. Verb (intransitive):

   • To laugh in a half-suppressed, often disrespectful manner: To utter a snicker; to laugh quietly or covertly, especially in a scornful or smug way.
   • To emit a stifled sound of amusement: To give a brief, quiet laugh through the nose, often when something is perceived as silly or inappropriate.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • His joke was met with a few snickers from the back of the classroom.
  • She tried to hide her snicker behind her hand when he tripped.

• Verb:

  • The children snickered during the serious lecture.
  • Don't snicker; it's rude to laugh at someone's mistake.

Advanced Usage

• "to snicker at": To laugh disrespectfully at someone or something.

  • It's unkind to snicker at people who are nervous during a presentation.

• Implied Disrespect: The word almost always carries a connotation of mockery, derision, or shared secret amusement, unlike a neutral laugh or chuckle.

  • The politician's awkward pause was followed by audible snickers from the press corps.

Variants and Related Words

• Snigger (noun/verb): A very close synonym, essentially interchangeable with "snicker," though sometimes considered to imply even more malice or smugness.
  • They sniggered at the outdated fashion.

Synonyms

• Giggle: To laugh lightly in a nervous or silly way (less consistently negative than snicker).
• Chuckle: To laugh quietly or inwardly (generally good-natured).
• Titter: To laugh nervously or in a restrained way.
• Guffaw: To laugh loudly and heartily (opposite in volume and often in tone).

Phrasal Verbs / Common Combinations

• Snicker about: To laugh quietly and disrespectfully concerning a particular subject.
  • The students were snickering about the teacher's new haircut.

Related Idioms

• No direct common idioms feature "snicker" as the key word. The action itself is often the focus in phrases like "to suppress a snicker" or "to elicit snickers."

Noun

1. a disrespectful laugh

Verb

1. laugh quietly