A filter for cigarettes or the like has an elongated tubular shell one interior end portion of which may be shaped to define a seat of a diameter to frictionally receive an end portion of a cigarette and longitudinally of that seat being shaped to define a tubular wall of predetermined cross-section and partially closed by a transverse wall in which is defined a central aperture. An air inlet extends through the outer wall of the shell. A filter element is of a porous material which is inhibitive to the passage of substances such as tar and nicotine. The element is in the form of an elongated hollow sleeve one end of which is closed and the other end of which is open. A laterally projecting shoulder is defined on the sleeve to have the aforementioned predetermined cross-section so as to seat frictionally within the tubular wall and against the transverse wall with a portion of the sleeve projecting through the aperture.
