i Register
In some senses, leer is marked as obsolete, UK. Watch for register when choosing this word.
leer
/lɪə/
noun 8adj 5verb 4name 4
Collocations
4ADJ.
sickly, ugly
VERB + LEER
look, saw, smile
LEER + NOUN
tom's
PREP.
in, on, with
Definitions
verb
1
To look sideways or obliquely; now especially with sexual desire or malicious intent.
And she looked to Mr. –––– / And leered like a love-sick pigeon.
I thought I saw him leer in an ugly way at me while the decanters were going round, but as there was no love lost between us, that might easily be.
2
To entice with a leer or leers.
But Bertran has been taught the Arts of Court, / To guild a Face with Smiles; and leer a man to ruin.
noun
1
A significant side glance; a glance expressive of some passion, as malignity, amorousness, etc.; a sly or lecherous look.
Nevertheless humanity stood before him no longer in the pensive sweetness of Italian art, but in the staring and ghastly attitudes of a Wiertz Museum, and with the leer of a study by Van Beers.
“[…]They say he has sold himself to the devil for a pretty face. It’s nigh on eighteen years since I met him. He hasn’t changed much since then. I have, though,” she added, with a sickly leer.
2
An arch or affected glance or cast of countenance.
noun
1
The cheek.
No ladie (quoth the earle with a lowd voice, and the tears trilling downe his leeres)
2
The face.
3
One's appearance; countenance.
a Rosalind of a better leer than you
4
Complexion; hue; colour.
Here's a young lad fram'd of another leer. Look, how the black slave smiles upon the father;
5
Flesh; skin.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
noun — a facial expression of contempt or scorn
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
And she looked to Mr. –––– / And leered like a love-sick pigeon.
Wiktionary02
I thought I saw him leer in an ugly way at me while the decanters were going round, but as there was no love lost between us, that might easily be.
Wiktionary03
The Baroness perceived that her entertainer had analyzed material comfort to a sufficiently fine point. And then he possessed the most delightful chinoiseries—trophies of his sojourn in the Celestial
Wiktionary04
Nevertheless humanity stood before him no longer in the pensive sweetness of Italian art, but in the staring and ghastly attitudes of a Wiertz Museum, and with the leer of a study by Van Beers.
Wiktionary05
“[…]They say he has sold himself to the devil for a pretty face. It’s nigh on eighteen years since I met him. He hasn’t changed much since then. I have, though,” she added, with a sickly leer.
Wiktionary06
I rose and bade him good-night, with a last impression of him leaning back in his dressing-gown, a sodden cigar-end in the corner of his mouth, his beard all slopped with whisky, and his half-glazed e
WiktionaryUsage Notes
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