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fleer. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
fleer, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
fleer in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
fleer you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology 1
Possibly from a Scandinavian source, compare Norwegian bokmål flire (“to giggle”), Jutish Danish flire.
Pronunciation
Verb
fleer (third-person singular simple present fleers, present participle fleering, simple past and past participle fleered)
- (archaic) To make a wry face in contempt, or to grin in scorn
- Synonyms: deride, sneer, mock, gibe; see also Thesaurus:deride
1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, act 5, scene 1:LEONATO. Tush, tush, man! never fleer and jest at me:
I speak not like a dotard nor a fool,
As, under privilege of age, to brag
What I have done being young, or what would do,
Were I not old.
- (archaic) To grin with an air of civility; to leer.
- Synonyms: fligger; see also Thesaurus:to smile
1552, Hugh Latimer, The Fifth Sermon Preached on the Twenty-Fourth Sunday After Trinity, 1552; republished in The Sermons of the Right Reverend Father in God, and Constant Martyr of Jesus Christ, Hugh Latimer, Some Time Bishop of Worcester, volume 2, London: James Duncan, 1824, page 212:In the time of popery, before the gospel came amongst us, we went to burials with weeping and wailing, as though there were no God: but since the gospel came unto us, I have heard say, that in some places they go with the corses grinning and flearing, as though they went to a bear-baiting; […]
Translations
to make a wry face in contempt, or to grin in scorn
Noun
fleer (uncountable)
- (archaic) Mockery; derision.
1720, Jonathan Swift, To Stella, visiting me in my sickness:[…] And flattery tipt with nauseous fleer,
And guilty shame, and servile fear,
Envy, and cruelty, and pride,
Will in your tainted heart preside.
Etymology 2
From flee + -er.
Pronunciation
Noun
fleer (plural fleers)
- One who flees.
1598, R. Grenewey, Annales, translation of original by Tacitus:Which fear of the fleers away was no less ignominious, then if […] they had turned their backs to the enemie.
Anagrams