leer

¹ American  

[leer] / lɪər /

verb (used without object)

1. to look with a sideways or oblique glance, especially suggestive of lascivious interest or sly and malicious intent.

   Go away! I can't concentrate with you leering at me.

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noun

1. a lascivious or sly look.

leer ² American  

[leer] / lɪər /

adjective

British Dialect.

1. having no burden or load.

2. faint for lack of food; hungry.

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leer British  

/ lɪə /

verb

1. (intr) to give an oblique, sneering, or suggestive look or grin

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noun

1. such a look

Other Word Forms

• leering adjective
• leeringly adverb

Etymology

Origin of leer¹

First recorded in 1520–30; perhaps verb use of obsolete noun leer “cheek” ( Middle English leor, Old English hlēor; cognate with Old Norse hlȳr (plural))

Origin of leer²

before 1050; Middle English lere, Old English gelǣr; cognate with German leer empty

Example Sentences

Cruel faces leered at him with merciless white eyes.

From Literature

But the leers and hostility from the outside world had soured me on that plan, and the thought of living alone left me cold.

From Literature

At the gym, located in Garden Grove, Hansen says they were met with unwelcoming and leering stares before entering the facility.

From Los Angeles Times

Her mouth hung open in a leering smile, and her teeth were large and razor sharp, with a prominent set of gleaming white incisors.

From Literature

The final shot is one of the most foreboding in Hollywood history, with Nazis in uniform reflected in the cabaret’s distorted mirror, leering from the VIP seats at the front of the stage.

From Salon