Snear

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. To express disdain or mockery through a curled lip, a contemptuous look, or a scornful tone of voice
2. To show scorn toward someone or something by a mocking expression or a dismissive manner of speaking
3. To regard another with contempt, displaying it through a derisive smile, a sneering face, or a jeering remark

Etymology: "Snear" is an older spelling of "sneer," the word for a curled-lip look of contempt. Spellings with an "a" in this family of words appear in dialect and older writing, where the same vowel was often written in several ways. The verb's ultimate source is uncertain. It is probably related to Low German and Scandinavian words for snarling or showing the teeth, which fits the facial gesture it describes. Its earliest English uses concern the expression on a face rather than mocking speech, and the sneering remark came later as an extension of that sense.