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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

sneer en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /snɪɚ̯/ (US)
  • (UK) audio
  • /snɪə̯/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle English sneren (“to mock, scoff at”), from Old English fnǣran (“to snort”), from Proto-West Germanic *fnāʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *fnesaną (“to pant, gasp”). Akin to North Frisian sneere (“to scorn”), Middle High German snerren (“to chatter; gossip”), Danish snerre (“to growl, snarl”).

Meanings

  1. A facial expression where one slightly raises one corner of the upper lip, generally indicating scorn.
    • He supposed then (with a sneer—M. Paul could sneer supremely, curling his lip, opening his nostrils, contracting his eyelids)—he supposed there was but one form of appeal to which I would listen [...] 1835, Charlotte Brontë, chapter XXX, in Villette:
    • Near them, on the sand, / Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, / And wrinked lip, and sneer of cold command, / Tell that its sculptor well those passions read 1817 (published 11 January 1818), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Sonnet. Ozymandias.”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume III, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 67:
  2. A display of contempt; scorn.
    • During [Tucker] Carlson’s keynote, he wedged sneers at his critics for crying “racist!” in between racist remarks about [Ilhan] Omar, jeremiads against the media (“I know there’s a bunch of reporters here, so . . . screw you”), and an attack on Elizabeth Warren and her donors (“She’s a tragedy, because she’s now obsessed with racism, which is why the finance world supports her”)—all to gleeful applause. 2019 July 24, David Austin Walsh, “Flirting With Fascism”, in Jewish Currents:
    • It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
    • And wordy attacks against slavery drew sneers from observers which were not altogether undeserved. The authors were compared to doctors who offered to a patient nothing more than invectives against the disease which consumed him. 1963, C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, 2nd Revised edition, page 24:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
sneers Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

sneeringly · sneerful · sneerocracy · sneer quote · unsneering · sneerless · sneery · sneerer

Relateds

snarl

Translations (22)

fi irvistys (facial expression that indicates scorn) · ca somriure d'escarni (facial expression that indicates scorn) · la sanna (facial expression that indicates scorn) · fr sourire en coin (facial expression that indicates scorn) · cs jízlivý úsměv (facial expression that indicates scorn) · ko 비웃음 (facial expression that indicates scorn) · fa دهنکجی (facial expression that indicates scorn) · it ghigno (facial expression that indicates scorn) · sv hånleende (facial expression that indicates scorn) · nl grijns (facial expression that indicates scorn) · ca somriure de menyspreu (facial expression that indicates scorn) · ru ухмылка (facial expression that indicates scorn) · ja 嘲笑 (facial expression that indicates scorn) · de Hohnlächeln (facial expression that indicates scorn) · de höhnisches Grinsen (facial expression that indicates scorn) · fi ivahymy (facial expression that indicates scorn) · cs úšklebek (facial expression that indicates scorn) · nl gehoon (facial expression that indicates scorn) · cs posměšek (facial expression that indicates scorn) · cs úsměšek (facial expression that indicates scorn) · ja 冷笑 (facial expression that indicates scorn) · it sogghigno (facial expression that indicates scorn)

sneer en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /snɪɚ̯/ (US)
  • (UK) audio
  • /snɪə̯/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle English sneren (“to mock, scoff at”), from Old English fnǣran (“to snort”), from Proto-West Germanic *fnāʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *fnesaną (“to pant, gasp”). Akin to North Frisian sneere (“to scorn”), Middle High German snerren (“to chatter; gossip”), Danish snerre (“to growl, snarl”).

Meanings

  1. (intransitive) To raise a corner of the upper lip slightly, especially in scorn.
    • So General Oakfield's friends taunted him with having been beaten, and Blackeston's friends sneered at him for not having called the general out. Blackeston, a studious and sensitive man, felt the taunts of his friends as only a student can. 1890, Henry Kingsley, Old Margaret: And Other Stories, page 393:
  2. (transitive) To utter with a grimace or contemptuous expression; to say sneeringly.
    • to sneer fulsome lies at a person
    • There was a quick scuffle within the cabin. "Leave me alone, I say, and git!" cried the cook. "Can't I be friendly without you hollerin?" sneered the miner. "You wouldn't have been 'lowed to stay round here if it hadn't been for me." 1913, Land of Sunshine, page 116:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
sneers Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
sneering Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
sneered Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
sneered Tense=Past lexicographic

Antonyms

cheer · laugh with

Coordinates

jeer at · heckle · mock

Hypernyms

revile

Relateds

bah

Synonyms

laugh at · gird · fleer · jibe · sneer · scorn · jeer · scoff

Translations (28)

ja 嘲る (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · ko 비웃다 (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · mi whakarāwai (to mock with a grimace) · fa دهنکجی کردن (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · cs pohrdavě se usmívat (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · mi whakahī (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · nl grimlachen (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · it ghignare (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · cs vysmívat se (to mock with a grimace) · grc μυκτηρίζω (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · pl kpić (to mock with a grimace) · it sogghignare (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · sv hånle (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · fr ricaner (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · mi whakahīhī (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · sv grina (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · eo rikani (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · ja 冷笑する (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · he סָנַט (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · pl drwić (to mock with a grimace) · no hånflire (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · pl szydzić (to mock with a grimace) · cs posmívat se (to mock with a grimace) · nl de neus optrekken/ophalen (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · fi irvistää (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · cs ušklíbat se (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · fi hymähtää ivallisesti (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn) · mi whakarāwai (raise a corner of the upper lip slightly in scorn)