askance

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askance

/əˈskæns/ UK
/əˈskɑːns/ UK
/əˈskæns/ US

Rhymes with -ɑːns, -æns

Where it comes from

Unknown. Possibly from Middle English askances (“as if”), or from Old French a escone (“hidden”) or Italian a scancio (“obliquely”). Compare asquint, Middle English askoyn (“at a slant, askance”), Dutch schuin, schuins (“sideways”), schuiven (“to shove”), schuinte (“slope”).

adverb askaunce · askant

not comparable Of a glance or look: with disapproval, skepticism, or suspicion. The beggar asked for change, but the haughty woman only looked at him askance.
Similar: skeptically, suspiciously
not comparable Obliquely, sideways. [S]he caſt her dewed eyes aſ kance, / And ſpying me, gan rovvſe her heauie head, / And praide me pen her ſad and heauie chance, / And ſhe recounted it that preſent ſted, […]
Similar: asquint

adjective askaunce · askant

not comparable Turned to the side, especially of the eyes. My first thought was, he lied in every word, That hoary cripple, with malicious eye Askance to watch the working of his lie
Similar: oblique, sideways, askew

verb askances · askancing · askanced · askaunce · askant

rare, transitive To look at (someone or something) with a sideways glance. Bowed heads, Aunt Ellen's, Aunt Laura's, her sister's — bowed but askancing her yellow dress — yes, yellow, golden yellow, hue of sun and life, Dad's favorite, to see him off on this, his greatest journey.
rare, transitive To turn (one's eye or gaze) to the side. The pope askanced his eye at Michael with displeasure, and after a short pause saluted him, " Instead of your coming to us, you seem to have expected that we should attend upon you."

Translations

Every language

adv of a glance or look: with disapproval, scepticism, or suspicion

Español	con recelo
한국어	삐딱하게 ppittakhage
日本語	疑わしそうに tagawashisō ni
中文	不贊成地 /不赞成地 bù zànchéng de, 懷疑地 /怀疑地 huáiyí de
Português	torto
Français	avec méfiance, de travers
Deutsch	skeptisch, ablehnend
Italiano	storto, in cagnesco
Русский	с подозре́нием s podozrénijem, подозри́тельно podozrítelʹno, неодобри́тельно neodobrítelʹno, с упрёком s uprjókom

adv obliquely, sideways

Español	de reojo, de través, de soslayo
日本語	横目で yokome de, 斜めに naname ni
中文	傾斜地 /倾斜地 qīngxié de
Português	de esguelha, de soslaio, de lado
Deutsch	schief, seitwärts, quer
Italiano	obliquamente, di traverso
Русский	и́скоса ískosa, ко́со kóso, кри́во krívo, сбо́ку sbóku, на́бок nábok

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MLA

"askance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/askance. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

askance. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/askance

Chicago

"askance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/askance.

BibTeX

@misc{askance_2026,
  title = {askance},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/askance},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}