How to Use sneer in a Sentence

sneer

1 of 2 verb
  • Ok, go ahead and sneer at my bus through the windshield of your Range Rollover.
    David H Freedman, Discover Magazine, 30 Apr. 2012
  • The scares are genuine, and the characters aren't meant to be sneered at.
    Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader, 18 Apr. 2018
  • Amazing that some of the online commenters sneer at the idea.
    Ellen Byron, WSJ, 15 Jan. 2019
  • Which means Chuck will live to sneer again in flashbacks—fire or no fire.
    Hillary Busis, VanityFair.com, 20 June 2017
  • Smith buries the 3-pointer with 41 seconds left and then sneers at the Maryland fans in the front row.
    Gregg Doyel, The Indianapolis Star, 3 Jan. 2024
  • The problem is the man sneering on the airplane and the tiny restaurant chair that leaves your thighs black and blue.
    Katy Waldman, Slate Magazine, 26 June 2017
  • The bug didn't get a starring role in the Herbie the Love Bug movies because of its low, sneering stance.
    Andrew Moseman, Popular Mechanics, 13 Sep. 2018
  • Others will simply sneer and hurl insults at the crowd.
    Nell Haynes, The Conversation, 5 July 2019
  • But Alonso rallied with two homers in the final 15 seconds to hit 14 as the Cleveland crowd sneered.
    Tom Withers, Houston Chronicle, 8 July 2019
  • When his son is killed by one of his own men (a sneering Tom Hardy), Glass goes on a life or death journey of revenge.
    Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 29 Aug. 2023
  • Widely known and loved, the painting is even admired by critics who sneer at the rest of his homey oeuvre.
    Terry Teachout, WSJ, 26 July 2017
  • In the next open tab, judgments about coarseness and its effect on the rest of society are openly sneered at.
    Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 13 Feb. 2018
  • Eat your heart out, Mike Pence, and anyone else predisposed to sneering at his good, gay life.
    Jerry Brewer, chicagotribune.com, 12 Feb. 2018
  • People sneered the title of that book on the 1968 Cowboys yearly as the talented Cowboys failed in the playoffs.
    David J. Neal, miamiherald, 30 Jan. 2018
  • Then first-year Tulane coach Bob Toledo sneered at the argument.
    Larry Holder, NOLA.com, 28 Feb. 2018
  • By the end of the first chapter, a small group of nefarious agents, led by the sneering Stuart (Neil Maskell), have taken control of the plane.
    Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 June 2023
  • There was sneering condescension, of course, but there were also some honest attempts to track the roots of the look.
    Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2023
  • Scotch die-hards may sneer at American single-malt whiskey.
    Tori Latham, Robb Report, 18 Apr. 2023
  • And these same folks sneer at him now, now that he is exposed to be the same black beast that always was in the collective imagination.
    Angela Helm, The Root, 16 July 2017
  • Within Rome’s elite the basic values of existence are not sneered at.
    Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 7 Sep. 2023
  • Fans of analytics sneer at the thought of Rudy Gay being on their basketball team.
    Jason Jones, sacbee.com, 15 June 2017
  • Bell sneers at Hansen, who's dressed like a frog, before throwing him into a coffee table.
    Evelyn Wang, Allure, 27 Oct. 2017
  • Nelemans maintains that his company has developed a use case all its own, one that the big boys would sneer at.
    IEEE Spectrum, 4 Jan. 2018
  • Democrats sneered him, went to war against him, assassinated him.
    Fox News, 5 Aug. 2018
  • The latter element is headed by Lazarus (Taylor James), a sneering brute who once took out a Beekeeper and lost a leg in the process.
    David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Jan. 2024
  • Connoisseurs may sneer at some of the wine selections, or take issue with the ornate glassware employed at the White House.
    New York Times, 25 Nov. 2020
  • Izzi is given almost nothing to do except show up, sneer a few threats, and then disappear.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 5 Mar. 2021
  • Why did these corporations sneer at this law that was supposed to rein in their excesses?
    Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 6 Oct. 2022
  • For the new club kids, money is beside the point—at best an irrelevance, and at worst a vulgar accessory to sneer at.
    H.w. Vail, Vanities, 20 Dec. 2017
  • The band — rounded out by bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool, both 51 — broke through in the '90s with playful ponderings on growing pains and has long made noise with sneering protest anthems.
    Jeff Nelson, Peoplemag, 17 Jan. 2024
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sneer

2 of 2 noun
  • She looked at me with a sneer of disgust.
  • The novel elicited sneers from the critics.
  • But the sneer withers away; the chuckle turns to dust in the throat.
    Kevin Baker, The New Republic, 17 May 2018
  • Looks matter with rock, all the way back to Elvis’s sneer and Chuck Berry’s duck walk.
    Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 11 July 2019
  • In the Kool-Aid exchange, Trump holds forth in a mocking tone, with a hint of a sneer.
    Elahe Izadi, Washington Post, 25 Oct. 2022
  • People of good will shouldn’t pretend that a sneer is a smile.
    New York Times, 29 Mar. 2022
  • Your son covers the fine by flipping you two pennies and sneers: Keep the change.
    Gregg Doyel, USA TODAY, 31 Aug. 2017
  • Bass is the type of leader who gets things done with a smile rather than a sneer or a threatening stare.
    George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 17 Nov. 2022
  • Eric Schneller's mouth is curved into a pronounced sneer, with his nose scrunched up and rage in his eyes.
    Domenica Bongiovanni, Indianapolis Star, 7 May 2018
  • To be read through a monocle and with a sinister sneer.
    New York Times, 24 Oct. 2017
  • The same boys who’d sneer and snicker should they be forced to take my hand during music class chose me first to be on their teams in P.E. class.
    Julia Sullivan, SELF, 26 Oct. 2017
  • Rick, of course—gets to deliver his scumbag line, with a sneer on his scumbag face.
    Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 July 2019
  • The new styling is essentially S550 with less fillip and more sneer.
    Sam Smith, Car and Driver, 25 Aug. 2023
  • Recall, too, the media sneers at anyone who questioned the provenance of the warrants.
    The Editorial Board, WSJ, 23 Jan. 2020
  • This is a guy who returns from his tearful apology tour with a sneer.
    Matt Miller, Esquire, 9 Feb. 2018
  • His face was almost blank; no smile, no sneer, maybe just a hint of satisfaction.
    Greg Bishop, SI.com, 14 Jan. 2018
  • Jill herself, on the other hand, is a far less curdled creation, devoid of sneers.
    Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2017
  • Yet there is a part of him that sees beyond his immediate feelings and sneers at them.
    Ben Brantley, New York Times, 10 Feb. 2020
  • My lips were curdled into a sneer the whole time that ending unfolded.
    Rose Maura Lorre, Vulture, 19 Feb. 2021
  • There’s always something to be said for filtering the timeless charm of ‘60s girl-group music through the snarl and sneer of classic punk.
    Ed Masley, azcentral, 15 June 2018
  • The tendency for players to challenge defenders one-on-one or take high-risk shots used to be called hero ball, and it was said with a sneer.
    Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2023
  • And noticing that poor Evan has been unable to find anyone to sign the cast on his broken arm, Connor scrawls his name across it with a mocking sneer.
    Charles Isherwood, New York Times, 1 May 2016
  • Her catcher’s mitt face is twisted in a permanent sneer.
    Reid McCarter, Wired, 19 Nov. 2020
  • Here and there, one yearns for the bass-heavy quake of Ms. Eilish’s music, or Lorde’s ingratiating sneer.
    Mark Richardson, WSJ, 24 May 2021
  • The band continues to balance sharp smarts with a sonic hint of slacker slouch and just the right calibration on sneer.
    John Adamian, courant.com, 28 Apr. 2018
  • Taking on Petty’s croon, frontman Deryck Whibley subdues his usual sneer just enough to sell the song.
    Chris Payne, Billboard, 3 Oct. 2017
  • But as Greer and Faith’s relationship takes on a new dimension, the skeptical sneer of the elder meets the righteous judgment of the younger.
    Lena Dunham, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2018
  • The accident left him with a deep gouge curving from the middle of his chin up through the edge of his lips, twisting his mouth into a slight but permanent sneer.
    Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2019
  • Over the two years since that episode, I have been subjected to sneers, head-shaking, and dirty looks (by his friends) and a nasty comment from their family member.
    Amy Dickinson, oregonlive, 2 June 2020
  • In a whiplash pivot, the same Popular Mechanics story that starts with the breathless headline ends with a sneer.
    Corey S Powell, Discover Magazine, 6 Aug. 2014

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sneer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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