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# sneer

«sneer» in Mova's school dictionary: **to smile or speak in an unkind way that shows you think…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (sneer, sneers, sneered, sneering); noun (a sneer, sneers)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To sneer is to smile or speak in an unkind way that shows you think someone or something is not good enough. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/#m1)

2) A sneer is that unkind, mocking smile, often with one side of the lip lifted. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/#m2)

3) To sneer at something is to make fun of it as if it were worthless. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In stories a sneer marks a proud, mean or bullying character; the reader learns the person feels better than others. In lessons about kindness, sneering is a kind of disrespect and a sign of bullying. Phrases: sneer at, with a sneer, a sneering voice.

### examples

- The bully sneered at my old trainers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/#x1)
- «Is that the best you can do?» he said with a sneer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/#x2)
- The villain's face twisted into a sneer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/#x3)
- Don't sneer at other people's drawings. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/#x4)
- She sneered when he dropped the ball. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/#x5)
- Some people sneered at the idea, but it worked. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/#x6)
- His sneer made Tom feel small. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/#x7)
- The rich man sneered at the poor farmer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/#x8)
- “Lots of little boys,” sneered Liza. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/#x9)

### note

Use «sneer at» someone or something. Past form: sneered. A sneer is not the same as a grin or a smirk: a grin is friendly; a smirk is a self-pleased smile; a sneer is scornful. Countable noun: a sneer, sneers.

### In the corpora

- [Liking or disliking a purple door is an opinion, not news; sneering at people for it is unkind.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/42-our-street-feuds-newcomers-and-stories-that-grow/17/)
- [Some girls sneer «Princess Lily» because her hair is neat and her books are tidy.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/367-wimp-scaredy-cat-and-other-labels/13/)
- [Lily is worried about «telling tales», because that is what the boys sneer at.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/369-getting-help-is-not-telling-tales/6/)
- [Ava doesn't sneer; she sets up two seed trays instead.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/1/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «sneer» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneer/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.