Definition of "sneer" [sneer]

• A scornful facial expression characterized by a slight raising of one corner of the upper lip. (noun)
• A contemptuous facial expression, sound, or statement. (noun)
• To utter with a sneer or in a sneering manner. (verb-transitive)
• To assume a scornful, contemptuous, or derisive facial expression. (verb-intransitive)
• To speak in a scornful, contemptuous, or derisive manner. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Make false accusations and sneer from the safety of the shadows?"
• "The God of the Gaps sneer is invoked to imply the inexorability of materialism as a complete explanation in natural science."
• "Sold 10 copies and received one sneer from a kid carrying a signed copy of Badrock/Wolverine."