leer

¹

[leer]

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.

noun

1. a lascivious or sly look.

leer

²

[leer]

adjective

British Dialect.

1. having no burden or load.

2. faint for lack of food; hungry.

leer

/ lɪə /

verb

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

noun

1. such a look

Other Word Forms

• leering adjective
• leeringly adverb

Word History and Origins

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of leer¹

C16: perhaps verbal use of obsolete leer cheek, from Old English hlēor

Example Sentences

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

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This included comments about their appearance, harassment, leering and groping.

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That same era has recently been under indictment for the delight in which it leered at underage celebrities.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

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.

Read more on Salon

But when she played the early solo cut “Money” too, a leering rap banger, she showed she’s always had this in her.

Read more on Los Angeles Times