Dictionary

sneerful en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈsnɪə(ɹ)fəl/ (UK)
• /ˈsnɪɹfəl/ (General-American)
• /ˈsnɪə(ɹ)fʊl/ (UK)
• /ˈsnɪɹfʊl/ (General-American)

Etymology

From sneer + -ful.

Meanings

1. Given to sneering.
   • Whenever I find myself feeling sneerful, I just remind myself, 'But there's Jaro — intelligent and kind and strong.' 1928, Helen Reimensnyder Martin, The Lie, page 175:
   • Abby could tell by his voice that he wasn't in his sneerful humour but was friendly drunk. 1944, Edith Pope, Colcorton, page 193:
   • My restless, itchy Syrian companion was rolling a cigarette beside me, making some observation futile and sneerful as usual. 1930, Harold Courtenay Armstrong, Turkey and Syria reborn: a record of two years of travel, page 78:
   • Cell ever squalid where the sneerful maid Will not fatigue her hand! 1771, William Shenstone, The Poetical Works of Wm. Shenstone Esq, page 210:
2. Expressing contempt.
   • Satan must laugh in sneerful derision. 2005, Ronald J. Sider, The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience:
   • He stood for a few seconds looking after the car, on his lips a sneerful smile. 1951, Where Town Begins, page 6:
   • Caspar Cass's Comedy Players at the Winter Garden, an ash-blonde girl said to a tall thin man with a sneerful face. 1972, Douglas Hayes, A player's hide, page 114:
   • Not that you do actually sneer, of course — that is stage business, not storytelling—but still a sneerful suggestion undoubtedly creeps in. 1972, May Hill Arbuthnot, Zena Sutherland, Children and Books, page 656:

Forms