Literary notes about sneer (AI summary)
Across literature, the term "sneer" is deployed to capture a complex mix of disdain, scorn, and often ironic humor. Authors use it to vividly illustrate a character’s haughty attitude or to underscore moments of subtle criticism. In some works, a sneer is a marked physical expression hinting at an inner triumph or contempt, as when a character’s lip curls in derision ([1], [2]). In other instances, it becomes a verbal tool, enhancing wit or marking a critical social commentary ([3], [4]). Whether highlighting personal vanity, as seen in remarks that carry a faint yet biting mockery ([5], [6]), or exposing the cold indifference of society ([7], [8]), "sneer" serves as a versatile device that enriches the narrative by layering emotional complexity and social critique.
- He then took his leave, with an uplifted finger and a sneer upon his face that haunted the artist's dreams for many a night afterwards.
— from Mosses from an old manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne - His face twisted into an expression that was half sneer, half triumph.
— from The Lani People by Jesse F. Bone - If I sneer sometimes, It is because I cannot well do less, And now and then it also suits my rhymes.
— from Don Juan by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron - But for one whose privilege it was to agitate that ocean of human waves, how many were received with a look of indifference or a sneer of disdain!
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - He used to sneer about you to me, time after time, and made love to me the week after he married you.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - As she passed me to-night, triumphant in beauty, my emotions did her homage; but for one luckless sneer, I should yet be the humblest of her servants.
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë - We became particularly hot upon some boorish sneer of Drummle's, to the effect that we were too free with our money.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - It is so easy for an Englishman to sneer at these chance collisions of human beings.
— from Howards End by E. M. Forster
