as in laughing
to express scornful amusement by means of facial contortions
they brushed off his sneer and went about their business
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Recent Examples of sneering
Newman’s God is laughing at our prayers, sneering at our cries for help.
—
Time, 6 May 2026
But there’s also a kind of sneering conventional wisdom toward Vance that doesn’t seem to have much basis in political reality.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 28 Apr. 2026
In character as a free spirit who scorns social convention, Davis is all haughty tosses of the head and sneering lines.
—Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Mar. 2026
Chalamet, whose grandmother, mother, and sister all performed with the New York City Ballet, is not sneering at the artists.
—Tiana Lowe Doescher, The Washington Examiner, 13 Mar. 2026
That lack of an official accounting encouraged a willful amnesia about the regime’s crimes and, Mendonça Filho has argued, led directly to the 2018 election of Jair Bolsonaro, who ran on a platform of sneering nostalgia for the era of military rule.
—Michael Snyder, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026
Impossibly cool at 60 years old, Reznor is all swagger, with his soaring, sneering vocals sounding as strong as his first decade recording.
—William Earl, Variety, 17 Feb. 2026
Where is the patriotism in sneering at America’s great achievements?
—Emilie G.c. Thompson, STAT, 15 Jan. 2026
Even the epithets for the Kansas City Chiefs are built on divisional rivalry and that team’s long track record of success, not sneering dismissiveness.
—Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 30 Nov. 2025
Time, 6 May 2026
But there’s also a kind of sneering conventional wisdom toward Vance that doesn’t seem to have much basis in political reality.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 28 Apr. 2026
In character as a free spirit who scorns social convention, Davis is all haughty tosses of the head and sneering lines.
—Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Mar. 2026
Chalamet, whose grandmother, mother, and sister all performed with the New York City Ballet, is not sneering at the artists.
—Tiana Lowe Doescher, The Washington Examiner, 13 Mar. 2026
That lack of an official accounting encouraged a willful amnesia about the regime’s crimes and, Mendonça Filho has argued, led directly to the 2018 election of Jair Bolsonaro, who ran on a platform of sneering nostalgia for the era of military rule.
—Michael Snyder, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026
Impossibly cool at 60 years old, Reznor is all swagger, with his soaring, sneering vocals sounding as strong as his first decade recording.
—William Earl, Variety, 17 Feb. 2026
Where is the patriotism in sneering at America’s great achievements?
—Emilie G.c. Thompson, STAT, 15 Jan. 2026
Even the epithets for the Kansas City Chiefs are built on divisional rivalry and that team’s long track record of success, not sneering dismissiveness.
—Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 30 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sneering
Verb
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The next morning, the pair are chatting and laughing.—
Erin Vanderhoof,
Vanity Fair,
12 May 2026
-
Sometimes laughing is better than crying.—
Lexi Lane,
PEOPLE,
9 May 2026
Verb
-
In one image from the early years, Denise and Mohamed are posing in the garden with their kids, while Djena is off to the side, smiling at the camera, in the middle of doing what looks like yard work.—
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
Cooper is smiling with one hand resting on her baby bump.—
Francie Ebert,
NBC news,
17 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sneering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sneering. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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