fleer

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

fleer^¹

/flɪə/ Australia, UK
/flɪɚ/ US
/fliɹ/ Scotland
/fliə/ New Zealand
/flɛː/

Sounds like flair, flare (both cheer–chair merger) · Rhymes with -ɪə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Possibly from a Scandinavian source, compare Norwegian bokmål flire (“to giggle”), Jutish Danish flire.

verb fleers · fleering · fleered

archaic To make a wry face in contempt, or to grin in scorn 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.
Similar: deride, sneer, mock, gibe, badger, bam, barrack, brock, bullyrag, chiack, fleer, fligger
archaic To grin with an air of civility; to leer. 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;[…]
Similar: fligger

noun

archaic, uncountable Mockery; derision. […] And flattery tipt with nauseous fleer, And guilty shame, and servile fear, Envy, and cruelty, and pride, Will in your tainted heart preside.

fleer^²

/ˈfliːə(ɹ)/

Rhymes with -iːə(ɹ)

noun fleers

One who flees. Which fear of the fleers away was no less ignominious, then if[…]they had turned their backs to the enemie.

Fleer^³

proper noun Fleers

A surname.

Translations

Every language

verb to make a wry face in contempt, or to grin in scorn

Русский	ухмыля́ться uxmyljátʹsja

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{fleer_2026,
  title = {fleer},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/fleer},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}