sneer at

sneer at (someone or something)

1. Literally, contort one's face into a disdainful, scornful, or condescending expression because of and directed at someone or something. Sarah just sneered at me when I invited her to my party. The king sneered at the artist's portrait, claiming it looked nothing like him.
2. By extension, to regard someone or something with haughty disdain, scorn, condescension, etc. I feel like the rest of the world is sneering at us because of our outdated, backwards laws. I used to sneer at the idea of working in a cubicle for eight hours a day, but once I had kids and needed steady income, it stopped sounding so unappealing.
See also: sneer
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

sneer at someone or something

to make a haughty or deprecating face at someone or something; to show one's contempt for someone or something. I asked her politely to give me some more room, and she just sneered at me. Jamie sneered at the report that Ken had submitted.
See also: sneer
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
See also:
References in periodicals archive ?
So what we need are politicians who don't sneer at us and talk endlessly about our failings, but champion our achievements and talk about the possibilities for our children's futures.
We are to blame for the Thornberries in our side
One of the reason that these shows are appealing and have been successful is that they give the viewer a chance to sneer at these loopy, out-of-touch, dysfunctional rich people.
Like common people: what Paris Hilton and her friends really want
Peter Gzowski didn't invent the attitude that afflicts newsrooms nation-wide: the reflexive sneer at any idea deemed to lie beyond the barbed wire of entrenched liberal orthodoxy.
Peter Gzowski's real contribution
Why are people so ready to sneer at the term "character building?" We have always wondered about that.
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It is my "prophetic" view that he will soon face a legal action that will successfully challenge this sneer at the foundations of our Constitution, and unfortunately give Moore martyr status for another run for public office.
A New Commandment For Politicians: Thou Shalt Not Be A Hypocrite
Already carrying a bullet in his body he managed to sneer at his would-be assassin on Monday night.
Nicola Tallant column: SNEER TO DEATH
But sneer at a politician and you're praised as a courageous hero who "tells truth to power." Sneer and the world sneers with you.
The politics of sneering
Someone in African history or Mesopotamian history or American colonial history or (I am not making this up) Viking history runs across Polanyi's book, from which he discovers that he does not have to learn economics to sneer at markets.
The Great Transformation
WHEN people sneer at Essex what they are really sneering at is the working class.
Three sneers for Essex? I'm proud to be its son
I know there will be some who will sneer at the idea and not deem the degree "proper" but that is nonsense.
JMU on song; YOUR LETTERS
People of this sort re-offend and sneer at the authorities."
Magistrates blasted over 'sneering' youth
As long as bin Laden is free to sneer at the world, the war on terrorism will never be won.
Voice Of The Daily Mirror: Bin Laden proves war is not over
Hillary stayed up 100 nights in a row, taking time away from her busy schedule as wife and mother...and you sneer at her work!
Hillaryous
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