a facial expression of contempt or scorn; the upper lip curls
<noun.communication>
a contemptuous or scornful remark
<noun.communication> [ verb ]
express through a scornful smile
<verb.body> she sneered her contempt
smile contemptuously
<verb.body> she sneered at her little sister's efforts to play the song on the piano
Sneer \Sneer\, v. t. 1. To utter with a grimace or contemptuous expression; to utter with a sneer; to say sneeringly; as, to sneer fulsome lies at a person. --Congreve.
``A ship of fools,'' he sneered. --Tennyson.
2. To treat with sneers; to affect or move by sneers.
Nor sneered nor bribed from virtue into shame. --Savage.
Sneer \Sneer\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Sneered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Sneering}.] [OE. sneren, Dan. sn?rre to snarl or grin (like a dog); cf. Prov. E. sneer to grin, sner to snort, snert to sneer at. See {Snore}, v. i.] 1. To show contempt by turning up the nose, or by a particular facial expression.
2. To inssinuate contempt by a covert expression; to speak derisively.
I could be content to be a little sneared at. --Pope.
3. To show mirth awkwardly. [R.] --Tatler.
Syn: To scoff; gibe; jeer.
Usage: {Sneer}, {Scoff}, {Jeer}. The verb to sneer implies to cast contempt indirectly or by covert expressions. To jeer is stronger, and denotes the use of several sarcastic reflections. To scoff is stronger still, implying the use of insolent mockery and derision.
And sneers as learnedly as they, Like females o'er their morning tea. --Swift.
Midas, exposed to all their jeers, Had lost his art, and kept his ears. --Swift.
The fop, with learning at defiance, Scoffs at the pedant and science. --Gay.
Sneer \Sneer\, n. 1. The act of sneering.
2. A smile, grin, or contortion of the face, indicative of contempt; an indirect expression or insinuation of contempt. ''Who can refute a sneer?'' --Raley.
To say this is not the same as supporting the inevitable Conservative sneer about what taxes go up or what service is cut to pay for this or that.
By STANLEY D. MILLER= You say your sneer's a little crooked, your pompadour's a little flat and _ gasp, what would the King think _ you've forgotten the words to "Don't Be Cruel"? No problem.
It was a photograph in Picturegoer around 1956 which first caught my attention: the sneer on the young man's face as he challenged the camera, and then the body contorted from the waist down, with a guitar provocatively tilting up into the imagination.
Polidori circles around Byron's clique wearing the sneer of the outcast.
She sneaks a look at Chucky's empty battery case, and with a turn almost as frightening as Blair's head swirl in "The Exorcist," Chucky snarls at Karen with a demonic sneer and tells her exactly what he thinks of her.
With a turn almost as frightening as Linda Blair's head swirl in "The Exorcist," Chucky snarls at Karen with a demonic sneer and tells her in some choice four-letter words exactly what he thinks of her.
Now Mark Harmon faces the same sneer.
When the Army Corps of Engineers general told Jack Brooks that the federal government would never build the proposed Sam Rayburn dam, a sneer crossed the face of the crusty Texas congressman.
Idol, a punk-style rock star known for his characteristic sneer and metal-studded leather outfits, will be something of a change for the country music fans who tune in WSTT.