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PlainSpell

snuff

/snʌf/noun, verb

snuff is spelled S-N-U-F-F: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, snuff means “Finely ground or pulverized tobacco (or other plant derivative) intended for use by being sniffed or snorted into the nose” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of snuff is snuffs.

How many letters and syllables are in snuff?

Letters5: S-N-U-F-F
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.4 times per million words; the 23,835th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is snuff?

Snuff appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce snuff?

  • US /snʌf/
  • Australia /snɐf/
  • /snʊf/

Snuff has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-snuff.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with snuff?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as snuff from its last stressed vowel (/ʌf/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of snuff

  • snuffs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • snuffing participle, present
  • snuffed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does snuff mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Finely ground or pulverized tobacco (or other plant derivative) intended for use by being sniffed or snorted into the nose.

  2. 2

    Fine-ground or minced tobacco, dry or moistened, intended for use by placing a pinch behind the lip or beneath the tongue.

  3. 3

    A snort or sniff of fine-ground, powdered, or pulverized tobacco.

  4. 4

    The act of briskly inhaling by the nose; a sniff, a snort.

  5. 5

    Resentment or skepticism expressed by quickly drawing air through the nose; snuffling; sniffling.

  6. 6

    obsoleteSnot, mucus.

  7. 7

    obsoleteSmell, scent, odour.

  8. 8

    The burning part of a candle wick, or the black, burnt remains of a wick (which must be periodically removed).

  9. 9

    obsoleteLeavings in a glass after drinking; heeltaps.

  10. 10

    slangA murder.

  11. 11

    slangA video showing a real, non-acted murder.

  12. 12

    informalErotica focusing on a character's murder.

verb

  1. 1

    To inhale through the nose.

  2. 2

    To turn up the nose and inhale air, as an expression of contempt; hence, to take offense.

    January 29, 1625, Joseph Hall, Public thanksgiving for the wonderful mitigation of the late morality Do the enemies of the church rage and snuff?

  3. 3

    IrelandUKobsoleteslangTo drug (a person) with a mixture of snuff and beer.

  4. 4

    To extinguish a candle or oil-lamp flame by covering the burning end of the wick until the flame is suffocated.

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo trim the burnt part of a candle wick.

  6. 6

    slangTo snuff out; to extinguish; to put out; to kill.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Snuff in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtabac à priser, snuff (fine-ground tobacco), éteindre, moucher (extinguish candle or oil-lamp)
GermanSchnupftabak (fine-ground tobacco)
Portugueserapé (fine-ground tobacco)
Spanishrapé (fine-ground tobacco), apagar, despabilar (extinguish candle or oil-lamp)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does snuff come from?

Late Middle English, from Middle Dutch snuffen (“to snuff, sniff, snuffle”). Related to Dutch snuiven (“to sniff”), Middle Low German snûve (“pose, head-cold”), German Schnupfen (“head-cold”). The noun is probably from Dutch snuf (“snuff”), an abbreviation of snuftabak, snuiftabak (“snuff”). Related to sniff (compare Dutch snuffen (“snuff”), German schnupf (“snuff”), French schnouff (“junk”)).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after snuff