Synonyms for sneer
snɪərsneer

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.3 / 3 votes

1. sneer

   A sneer may be simply a contemptuous facial contortion, or it may be some brief satirical utterance that throws a contemptuous side-light on what it attacks without attempting to prove or disprove; a depreciatory implication may be given in a sneer such as could only be answered by elaborate argument or proof, which would seem to give the attack undue importance:

   Who can refute a sneer?

   Paley Moral Philosophy bk. v, ch. ix.

   A fling is careless and commonly pettish; a taunt is intentionally insulting and provoking; the sneer is supercilious; the taunt is defiant. The jeer and gibe are uttered; the gibe is bitter, and often sly or covert; the jeer is rude and open. A scoff may be in act or word, and is commonly directed against that which claims honor, reverence, or worship. Compare BANTER.

   Synonyms:
   fling, gibe, jeer, mock, scoff, taunt

   Preposition:
   Only an essentially vicious mind is capable of a sneer at virtue.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.3 / 4 votes

1. sneer

   Synonyms:
   scoff, gibe, jeer, taunt, disparagement, contempt, scorn, superciliousness, disdain

   Antonyms:
   compliment, eulogy, commendation, deference

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:3.0 / 1 vote

1. sneer, leernoun

   a facial expression of contempt or scorn; the upper lip curls

   Synonyms:
   leer

2. sneerverb

   a contemptuous or scornful remark

   Synonyms:
   leer

3. sneerverb

   express through a scornful smile

   "she sneered her contempt"

4. sneerverb

   smile contemptuously

   "she sneered at her little sister's efforts to play the song on the piano"

Matched Categories

1. • Contempt
   • Express
   • Smile

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sneerverb

   Synonyms:
   scoff, gibe, jeer, flout, mock, fleer, rail, turn up the nose

2. sneernoun

   Synonyms:
   scoff, jeer, jibe, fling

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sneernoun

   Synonyms:
   gibe, scoff, jeer, gird, derision

2. sneerverb

   Synonyms:
   mock, gibe, scoff, flout, jeer, deride, ridicule, scout

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How to use sneer in a sentence?

1. Johann Kaspar Lavater:

   A sneer is often the sign of heartless malignity.

2. Louis Auchincloss:

   Only little boys and old men sneer at love.

3. Charles Hendrickson Brower:

   A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn it can be stabbed to death by a joke or worried to death by a frown on the right person's brow.

4. Vachel Lindsay:

   Never be a cynic, even a gentle one. Never help out a sneer, even at the devil.

5. Joe Keenan:

   There are, however, people in this world who seldom pick up a newspaper, people who, when watching television, sneer in displeasure and change channels at the first glimpse of an anchorperson. While such willfully uninformed citizens are rare, emerging from seclusion only to serve on juries in trials of great national significance, they do exist.