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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

sneer.

To raise a corner of the upper lip slightly, especially in scorn.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/snɪə̯/UK/snɪɚ̯/US
  1. To raise a corner of the upper lip slightly, especially in scorn.

    intransitive
  2. To utter with a grimace or contemptuous expression; to say sneeringly.

    transitive
    to sneer fulsome lies at a person
Where this word comes from

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”).

noun/snɪə̯/UK/snɪɚ̯/US
  1. A facial expression where one slightly raises one corner of the upper lip, generally indicating scorn.

  2. A display of contempt; scorn.

Where this word comes from

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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.