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
Cassie’s OnlyFans adventures, for interest, were depicted with a kind of sneering derision toward the character’s poor judgement and lack of savvy.
—
Alison Herman, Variety, 1 June 2026
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
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
Alison Herman, Variety, 1 June 2026
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
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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Conversation starters → One Hollywood actor's in-flight rant has travelers laughing — and arguing — all over again.—
Staff,
FOXNews.com,
2 June 2026
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The Eagles posted a video on the night of the trade of Hurts and Brown on a FaceTime call with each other, laughing uncontrollably.—
Saad Yousuf,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
Verb
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Across the short films, Early plays, among other roles, a smiling, fiendish mall pop act; the shy, offbeat child of an overbearing stage mom; and an extra in a makeup chair whose instruments, his face and his voice, are progressively hampered by prosthetics.—
Lauren Michele Jackson,
New Yorker,
7 June 2026
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Infantino, smiling through it, eventually got both men offstage.—
Chris Jones,
The Atlantic,
7 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sneering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sneering. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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