Synonyms:
| fling, | gibe, | jeer, | mock, | scoff, | taunt. |
A sneer may be simply a contemptuous facial contortion, or it may be some brief satirical utterance that throws a contemptuous side-light on what it attacks without attempting to prove or disprove; a depreciatory implication may be given in a sneer such[338] as could only be answered by elaborate argument or proof, which would seem to give the attack undue importance:
Who can refute a sneer?
Paley Moral Philosophy bk. v, ch. ix.
A fling is careless and commonly pettish; a taunt is intentionally insulting and provoking; the sneer is supercilious; the taunt is defiant. The jeer and gibe are uttered; the gibe is bitter, and often sly or covert; the jeer is rude and open. A scoff may be in act or word, and is commonly directed against that which claims honor, reverence, or worship. Compare [BANTER].
Preposition:
Only an essentially vicious mind is capable of a sneer at virtue.