Sneered

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /snɪə̯d/

Definitions

1. To have shown a derisive or scornful expression while also communicating in a condescending tone and indicating disrespect through body language
2. To have exhibited a facial gesture of disdain, accompanied by mocking speech that conveys a sense of contempt and scorn towards someone or something
3. Made a facial expression showing contempt and spoke in a way that mocked or belittled

Etymology: "Sneered" is the past tense of "sneer," and the verb's roots are less about contempt than about breathing. Its ancestor in Old English, "fnǣran," meant "to snort," and it traces back to a Germanic word meaning "to pant" or "to gasp." The sense of mocking scorn only arrived in Middle English, where "sneren" meant "to mock" or "to scoff at," so the original idea of a forceful nasal exhalation seems to have hardened into a gesture of disdain. The word's relatives suggest the same progression from sound to attitude. Middle High German "snerren" meant "to chatter" or "to gossip," and Danish "snerre" means "to growl" or "snarl," so the family of words carries a notion of noisy, audible displeasure. A curled lip and a snort of contempt would have been easy to read as the same bodily expression, which helps explain how a simple sound became a facial sneer.

Synonyms: mocked, ridiculed, scorned

Antonyms: praised, complimented