What's the difference between jeer and sneer?

Jeer


Definition:

  • (n.) A gear; a tackle.
  • (n.) An assemblage or combination of tackles, for hoisting or lowering the lower yards of a ship.
  • (v.) To utter sarcastic or scoffing reflections; to speak with mockery or derision; to use taunting language; to scoff; as, to jeer at a speaker.
  • (v. t.) To treat with scoffs or derision; to address with jeers; to taunt; to flout; to mock at.
  • (n.) A railing remark or reflection; a scoff; a taunt; a biting jest; a flout; a jibe; mockery.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) But, truth be told, Putin is also at a loss when he gets jeered.
  • (2) The jeers were meaningful and the cheers, well, they just were a sign of entertainment.
  • (3) "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country," he told a jeering audience at Columbia University in New York during his UN visit.
  • (4) It was reported that the Greek tourist board had asked TV networks to keep the crowd volume low amid fears Greek fans in the stadium would drown out the German national anthem with jeers.
  • (5) One investor who spoke up in defence of bonuses – the former City fund manager and Conservative party donor Patrick Evershed – was jeered by one of those present, who shouted "call him a taxi".
  • (6) "I found that most of the MPs just sat jeering at everybody and not actually listening to what people were saying – just what my image of parliament is in my head," said one participant.
  • (7) Behind the chancellor, Tories kept up a wall of noise, laughing and jeering at the misery guts on the benches opposite.
  • (8) Goodes, who has been in the headlines all week after being the target of much jeering from Hawthorn fans during a rematch of the 2014 grand final, was again targeted vocally and loudly at the SCG.
  • (9) Dundee’s Harkins then slashed wide in the fourth of four added minutes before the final whistle brought jeers raining down on the home side.
  • (10) And take their boos and jeers as confirmation that it’s on to something.
  • (11) in the manner of John Major as the Tories jeered some more.
  • (12) Winmar, who played 251 AFL games, made a stand against racism in 1993 when he lifted his jumper and pointed to his skin after being jeered by Collingwood fans at Victoria Park.
  • (13) It was all very well for erstwhile broadsheet newspaper readers to jeer "Who cares?"
  • (14) In a move that sparked laughter and jeers in the Commons, the shadow chancellor pulled out a copy of the Quotations from Chairman Mao to make a point about George Osborne’s attempts to sell off state assets to the Chinese.
  • (15) The police said they had no evidence of the incident, captured on camera by a jeering mob, but opened investigations to find out if the men were "sodomites".
  • (16) Burkhardt encountered sharp criticism from Quebec politicians and jeers from Lac-Mégantic residents while making his first visit to the town.
  • (17) (There is jeering, because the Lib Dems say this is there policy.)
  • (18) Police officer Thet Lwin, speaking at the scene, said the fire was triggered by an electrical short "and not due to any criminal activity" but was jeered by the crowd for saying so.
  • (19) Remember the Trump supporter who disagreed with everything Trump said but explained: “He’s just my kind of guy.” Like it or jeer, these are the people who now win elections.
  • (20) Sterling’s omission from the starting XI had created the pre-match buzz and the substitute was jeered by plenty of travelling supporters by the tunnel in the corner as he returned to the dressing room after the warm-up.

Sneer


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To show contempt by turning up the nose, or by a particular facial expression.
  • (v. i.) To inssinuate contempt by a covert expression; to speak derisively.
  • (v. i.) To show mirth awkwardly.
  • (v. t.) To utter with a grimace or contemptuous expression; to utter with a sneer; to say sneeringly; as, to sneer fulsome lies at a person.
  • (v. t.) To treat with sneers; to affect or move by sneers.
  • (n.) The act of sneering.
  • (n.) A smile, grin, or contortion of the face, indicative of contempt; an indirect expression or insinuation of contempt.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) He made his political base in this western province, which has long felt sneered at: Harper has spent his political career redressing the balance.
  • (2) Gough, as the degenerate black sheep of an English family trying to blackmail an American adulterer, would curl a long lip into a sneering smile, which became a characteristic of this fine actor's style.
  • (3) Comment is perfectly legitimate, but the sneering, supercilious, specious and dismissive contributions masquerading as ‘commentary’ belittle the claims of a ‘quality’ paper.” Before attempting to assess the validity of the reader’s analysis – broadly shared by some other readers – I think his email reflects one or two other interesting aspects of the demographics of the Guardian’s readership and the left.
  • (4) Webb agreed, calling Miliband "irresponsible" for "stirring up cheap headlines", sneering: "Why doesn't the government set a price cap on a tin of beans?"
  • (5) I think it's a good thing that comedians want to exploit (and relieve) our anxieties about what's sayable – but only if we as audiences become bolder in opposing comedy that bullies, comedy that sneers at the vulnerable and the under-represented, comedy that feels, in Herring's words, "like being at school and going, 'Ha ha, you're a spastic.'"
  • (6) Over the years the Oscars have been variously coveted and sneered at, have increasingly brought box-office value and personal prestige, become a media obsession, a gauge of industrial morale and a way of taking the national pulse.
  • (7) It has sneered at the 1906 reforms of Lloyd George , who recognised that 19th-century philanthropy (which was always pretty judgmental and selective) was no longer adequate for a modern industrial country.
  • (8) Merkel grimly submitted to an executive fashion makeover after the media sneered at her frumpy look; now she clearly relishes shining out in jewel-toned jackets from a forest of dark suits at G20 meetings.
  • (9) At which point – obviously – you reach the stubborn limits of the debate: from even the most supposedly imaginative Labour people as much as any Tories, such heresies would presumably be greeted with sneering derision.
  • (10) This is so corny, what I'm saying, but I feel obliged to drone on about it, because before we reach the tipping point, it's time to stop sneering at fat people, being disapproving and bossing them about: walk to work, eat your greens, control yourselves.
  • (11) Henry Barnes The clergy may not be entirely trustworthy This may not be big news to cinemagoers – sneering at religious types goes all the way back to DW Griffith's Intolerance – but Cannes boasts an impressively ecumenical approach.
  • (12) Chindamo's trial, the following year, heard how the teenager, who came to Britain from Italy at the age of five, sneered as he slapped, punched and then stabbed the headteacher.
  • (13) Oh, but now this is highfalutin identity politics to be sneered at along with your safe spaces and trigger warnings.
  • (14) Hours after Tuesday’s bomb attack on a tourist area of Istanbul , Erdoğan delivered a sneering criticism of Chomsky and “so-called intellectuals” who had signed a letter calling on Turkey to end the “deliberate massacre” of Kurdish people in the south east of the country, He invited Chomsky to visit the area in a defiant televised speech to a conference of Turkish ambassadors in Ankara.
  • (15) "I always hated the expression anyway, mostly because I encountered it in stupid or sneering contexts."
  • (16) Naturally, Michael Gove , former Times columnist, responded to the thousands of economists who warned he was taking an extraordinary risk with the sneer that will follow him to his grave: “People in this country have had enough of experts.” He’s been saying the same for years.
  • (17) It is easy to sneer at the journalistic concept of the Angry Young Man (a phrase, incidentally, coined by a dismissive Royal Court press officer).
  • (18) But Winterbottom, a competent pre-war centre-half for Manchester United, unfairly sneered at by some England international veterans as one who had never played, was, in essence, a bureaucrat rather than a technician, who would admit his other job – yes, he had two!
  • (19) The decision to have clip-on ties, favoured for police officers, sneered at by those who believe "children should learn to do ties up from an early age", is already paying off, with not a single tie out of place.
  • (20) If you ever feel tempted to say "status quo" or "cul de sac", for instance, Orwell will sneer at you for "pretentious diction".