jeer

[ jeer ]

/ dʒɪər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR jeer ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to speak or shout derisively; scoff or gibe rudely: Don't jeer unless you can do better.

verb (used with object)

to shout derisively at; taunt.

to treat with scoffs or derision; mock.

to drive away by derisive shouts (followed by out of, off, etc.): They jeered the speaker off the stage.

noun

a jeering utterance; derisive or rude gibe.

RELATED WORDS

taunting, raucous, scornful

Nearby words

jeep, jeep carrier, jeepers, jeepney, jeeps, jeer, jeeves, jeevesian, jeez, jefe, jeff

Origin of jeer

1555–65; origin uncertain; compare Old English cēir clamor, akin to cēgan to call out

SYNONYMS FOR jeer

1 sneer; jest. See scoff¹.

2, 3 deride, ridicule, flout, fleer.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR jeer ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

jeer·er, nounjeer·ing·ly, adverbun·jeered, adjectiveun·jeer·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for jeering

Cheering and jeering at the television an average of 5.3 hours per day was associated, however, with a higher risk of obesity.
6 Ways to Avoid ‘Sochi Gut’ While Watching the Olympics|Jenna A. Bell|February 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There are no jeering yoga moms in the bleachers, nor any post-demonstration rumbles in the parking lot.
Confessions of an Extreme Yogi|Benjamin Lorr|December 31, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Without the cheering and jeering crowds to whip him up, Newt was oddly subdued.
Paul Begala: The Strangely Silent Jan. 23 Debate in Tampa|Paul Begala|January 24, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Alastair Beach reports from Cairo and talks to the jeering crowds outside.
Mubarak’s Judgment Day|Alastair Beach|August 3, 2011|DAILY BEAST

When it was my turn with him, he gave me a thin-lipped smile, like he was jeering.
Eyewitness to the Firing Squad|Lawrence Schiller|April 25, 2010|DAILY BEAST
He contentedly takes his place in a world that does not pretend to be genteel—a laughing, working, jeering world.
The Defendant|G.K. Chesterton
And they were without honor and respect, jeering the old-time customs and laughing in the faces of chief and shamans.
The Spinner's Book of Fiction|Various
If she smiled as she handed me the packet, I fancied she was jeering at me.
My First Book:|Various
There was a yell of demons in my ear, with Brian's jeering laugh above it all.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XXIV, May 1852, Vol. IV|Various
Besides it is a jeering and flouting vice, and apt to put jests on the reprover.
Microcosmography|John Earle

British Dictionary definitions for jeering

jeer

/ (dʒɪə) /

verb

(often foll by at) to laugh or scoff (at a person or thing); mock

noun

a remark or cry of derision; gibe; taunt

Derived Forms

jeerer, nounjeering, adjective, nounjeeringly, adverb

Word Origin for jeer

C16: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012