sneer

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Related to sneer: Ozymandias

sneer

(snîr)

1. A scornful facial expression characterized by a slight raising of one corner of the upper lip.

2. A scornful tone or statement.

v. sneered, sneer·ing, sneers

v.intr.

1. To assume a scornful or derisive facial expression.

2. To speak in a scornful or derisive manner.

v.tr.

To utter with a sneer or in a sneering manner.

[From Middle English sneren, to mock, alteration of Old English fnǣran, to breathe heavily; see pneu- in Indo-European roots.]

sneer′er n.

sneer′ful, sneer′y adj.

sneer′ing·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sneer

(snɪə)

1. a facial expression of scorn or contempt, typically with the upper lip curled

2. a scornful or contemptuous remark or utterance

3. (intr) to assume a facial expression of scorn or contempt

4. to say or utter (something) in a scornful or contemptuous manner

[C16: perhaps from Low Dutch; compare North Frisian sneere contempt]

ˈsneerer n

ˈsneerful adj

ˈsneering adj, n

ˈsneeringly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sneer

(snɪər)

v.i.

1. to smile, laugh, or contort the face in a manner that shows scorn or contempt: sneering at someone's pretensions.

2. to speak or write in a manner expressive of derision or scorn.

v.t.

3. to utter or say in a sneering manner.

4. a look of contempt.

5. a derisive or scornful utterance.

6. an act of sneering.

[1545–55; orig., to snort; compare Frisian (North) sneere snarl¹]

sneer′er, n.

syn: See scoff¹.

Sneer

of butlers—Lipton, 1970.

sneer

Past participle: sneered
Gerund: sneering

Imperative
sneer
sneer

Present
I sneer
you sneer
he/she/it sneers
we sneer
you sneer
they sneer

Preterite
I sneered
you sneered
he/she/it sneered
we sneered
you sneered
they sneered

Present Continuous
I am sneering
you are sneering
he/she/it is sneering
we are sneering
you are sneering
they are sneering

Present Perfect
I have sneered
you have sneered
he/she/it has sneered
we have sneered
you have sneered
they have sneered

Past Continuous
I was sneering
you were sneering
he/she/it was sneering
we were sneering
you were sneering
they were sneering

Past Perfect
I had sneered
you had sneered
he/she/it had sneered
we had sneered
you had sneered
they had sneered

Future
I will sneer
you will sneer
he/she/it will sneer
we will sneer
you will sneer
they will sneer

Future Perfect
I will have sneered
you will have sneered
he/she/it will have sneered
we will have sneered
you will have sneered
they will have sneered

Future Continuous
I will be sneering
you will be sneering
he/she/it will be sneering
we will be sneering
you will be sneering
they will be sneering

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been sneering
you have been sneering
he/she/it has been sneering
we have been sneering
you have been sneering
they have been sneering

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been sneering
you will have been sneering
he/she/it will have been sneering
we will have been sneering
you will have been sneering
they will have been sneering

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been sneering
you had been sneering
he/she/it had been sneering
we had been sneering
you had been sneering
they had been sneering

Conditional
I would sneer
you would sneer
he/she/it would sneer
we would sneer
you would sneer
they would sneer

Past Conditional
I would have sneered
you would have sneered
he/she/it would have sneered
we would have sneered
you would have sneered
they would have sneered

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	sneer - a facial expression of contempt or scorn; the upper lip curls leer scorn, contempt - open disrespect for a person or thing
	2.	sneer - a contemptuous or scornful remark scorn, contempt - open disrespect for a person or thing
Verb	1.	sneer - express through a scornful smile; "she sneered her contempt" sneer - smile contemptuously; "she sneered at her little sister's efforts to play the song on the piano" evince, express, show - give expression to; "She showed her disappointment"
	2.	sneer - smile contemptuously; "she sneered at her little sister's efforts to play the song on the piano" smile - change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure sneer - express through a scornful smile; "she sneered her contempt"

sneer

verb

1. scorn, mock, ridicule, laugh, jeer, disdain, scoff, deride, look down on, snigger, sniff at, gibe, hold in contempt, hold up to ridicule, turn up your nose (informal) There is too great a readiness to sneer at anything they do.

2. say contemptuously, snigger `I wonder what you people do with your lives,' he sneered.

noun

1. scorn, ridicule, mockery, derision, jeer, disdain, snigger, gibe, snidery Best-selling authors may have to face the sneers of the literati.

2. contemptuous smile, snigger, curl of the lip His mouth twisted in a contemptous sneer.

Quotations
"Who can refute a sneer?" [Revd. William Paley Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy]
"Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,"
"And, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer" [Alexander Pope Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

sneer

noun

A facial expression or laugh conveying scorn or derision:

fleer, snicker, snigger.

verb

To smile or laugh scornfully or derisively:

fleer, snicker, snigger.

Idiom: curl one's lip.

Translations

سُخْرِيَه، هُزْء، تَهَكُّميَتَهَكَّم علىيَقولُ هازِئايَهْزأ، يَسْخَر

pohrdavě se usmívatpošklebekposměchříci pohrdlivěvysmívat se

hånhånele hånligtvrænge

feixen Hohn höhnen höhnisch grinsen

burlarse

ivatanaureskella

ricaner sarcasme

סנט

gúnyos mosolygúnyosan megjegyezgúnyosan mosolyog

fitja upp á trÿniîhæîast aî; setja upp fyrirlitningarsviphæînissvipur; háîsglósasegja meî fyrirlitningu

ghigno schernire sogghignare sorriso beffardo

nusišieptipašiepimassuniekinti

apnicinātnicinājumsnonicinātteikt ar nicinājumuvīpsna

de neus ophalen optrekken

hånflir hånflire le hånlig si hånlig si spottende

pohŕdavo sa usmievaťpovedať pohŕdavo

posmehovati seroganje

alaycı sözdudak bükerek alaycı alaycı gülmekdudak bükmedudak bükmekküçümsemek

嘲笑嘲笑的表情、言词等讥笑轻蔑地说出

sneer

[snɪəʳ]

A. N (= expression) → cara f de desprecio; (= remark) → comentario m desdeñoso
he said with a sneer → dijo con desprecio
the book is full of sneers about → el libro se mofa constantemente de ...

B. VI → hablar con desprecio, hablar con desdén
to sneer at sb/sth (= laugh) → mofarse de algn/algo; (= scorn) → despreciar a algn/algo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sneer

[ˈsnɪə^r]

n → ricanement m

vi → ricaner, sourire d'un air sarcastique
to sneer at sb/sth → se moquer de qn/qch avec mépris

sneer

n (= expression) → spöttisches or höhnisches Lächeln; (= remark) → spöttische or höhnische Bemerkung

vi → spotten; (= look sneering) → spöttisch or höhnisch grinsen; adolescents often sneer at what they cannot understand → Jugendliche spotten oft über das, was sie nicht verstehen können; to sneer at somebody → jdn verhöhnen; (facially also) → jdn auslachen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sneer

[snɪəʳ]

1. n (expression) → sogghigno, ghigno; (remark) → commento sarcastico

2. vi → sogghignare
to sneer at sb/sth → farsi beffe di qn/qc

sneer

(sniə) verb

1. to raise the top lip at one side in a kind of smile that expresses scorn. What are you sneering for?

2. (with at) to show contempt for (something) by such an expression or by scornful words etc. He sneered at our attempts to improve the situation.

3. to say with contempt. `You haven't a chance of getting that job,' he sneered.

noun

a scornful expression, words etc that express contempt.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Down the avenue came boastfully sauntering a lad of sixteen years, although the chronic sneer of an ideal manhood already sat upon his lips.

View in context

"The 'Memoirs of an Alcoholic,'" I sneered--or, rather, John Barleycorn sneered; for he sat with me there at table in my pleasant, philanthropic jingle, and it is a trick of John Barleycorn to turn the smile to a sneer without an instant's warning.

View in context

I would not for a moment sneer at anything that helps to keep hearts tender in this hard old world.

View in context

The fourth whom we shall notice had no name that his companions knew of, and was chiefly distinguished by a sneer that always contorted his thin visage, and by a prodigious pair of spectacles, which were supposed to deform and discolor the whole face of nature, to this gentleman's perception.

View in context

'It is a noble thought,' said the Cynic, with an obsequious sneer. 'Yet, might I presume to say so, the gem would make a rare sepulchral lamp, and would display the glories of your lordship's progenitors more truly in the ancestral vault than in the castle hall.'

View in context

"--That's right, Bruce Cadogan Cavendish, sneer as you like.

View in context

She said 'That Stevenson man' with a sneer, and, it was never easy to her to sneer.

View in context

In the first place, you needn't sneer at adventure when you are living it yourself; and you were certainly living it when I found you first, down with fever on a lonely plantation with a couple of hundred wild cannibals thirsting for your life.

View in context

'To love me, perhaps?' pursued her brother with a sneer.

View in context

You say that everyone is laughing at you, that every one has learnED of the bond which exists between us, and that your neighbours habitually refer to me with a sneer. Pay no attention to this, Makar Alexievitch; for the love of God, be comforted.

View in context

In his sensitiveness he saw sneers and wonderings in other fellows' manner when they were not bothering their heads with him at all.

View in context

But the other bird sneered at him for being a poor simpleton, who did all the hard work, while the other two stayed at home and had a good time of it.