Join free

jeer

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.

jeer¹

  • /d͡ʒɪə/ Australia, UK
  • /d͡ʒɪɹ/ US
  • /ˈd͡ʒiə/ New Zealand
  • /ˈd͡ʒiɹ/ Scotland
  • /ˈd͡ʒɛː/

Rhymes with -ɪə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From earlier gyr, probably from Dutch gieren (“to roar with laughter, laugh loudly”) (related to German gieren (“to gape, snap”)); or from Dutch gekscheren (“to jeer”, literally “to shear the fool”), from gek (“a fool”) (see geck) + scheren (“to shear”) (see shear (verb)). The OED states no verifiable connection to English cheer.

noun jeers

  1. A mocking remark or reflection. 1711, Jonathan Swift, The Fable of Midas, in The Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Vol XII, Sir Walter Scott, ed., Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co., 1824, pages 302-5, Midas, exposed to all their jeers, Had lost his art, and kept his ears.

    Similar: scoff, taunt, flout, jibe, mockery

verb jeers · jeering · jeered

  1. intransitive, with at To utter sarcastic or mocking comments; to speak with mockery or derision; to use taunting language. But when he saw her toy, and gibe, and geare, / And passe the bonds of modest merimake, / Her dalliance he despisd, and follies did forsake.

    Similar: laugh at, scoff, sneer, hoot, gird, jeer, jibe, scorn

  2. archaic, transitive To mock; treat with mockery; to taunt. And if we cannot jeer them, we jeer ourselves.

    Similar: deride, flout, gibe, mock, ridicule, befool, chaff, disparage, forgab, frump, gleek, jape

jeer²

  • /d͡ʒɪə/ Australia, UK
  • /d͡ʒɪɹ/ US
  • /ˈd͡ʒiə/ New Zealand
  • /ˈd͡ʒiɹ/ Scotland
  • /ˈd͡ʒɛː/

Rhymes with -ɪə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Compare gear.

noun jeers

  1. A gear; a tackle.
  2. in plural An assemblage or combination of tackles, for hoisting or lowering the yards of a ship. In the nineteenth century, 1811 to be exact, the jeers were unrove after the yard was slung, the weight of the yard being borne by chain slings. The jeers used then were a treble block lashed to the mast head through a hole in the center of the top

Translations

Every language

noun mocking remark

Españolburlería
Portuguêszombaria, escárnio
Françaismoquerie, raillerie
DeutschSpott
Italianoscherno, scorno, burla, beffa
Русскийглумле́ние glumlénije, насме́шка nasméška

verb to scoff or mock

Españolburlarse, abuchear
日本語冷やかす hiyakasu, 野次る yajiru, 嘲る azakeru
中文嘲笑 cháoxiào, 嘲弄 cháonòng
Portuguêszombar, escarnecer, ridicularizar
Françaismoquer, railler
Deutschspotten
Italianoderidere, schernire, motteggiare, sbeffeggiare
Русскийpf, высме́ивать vysméivatʹ, вы́смеять výsmejatʹ
Tiếng Việtchế giễu

noun gear; tackle

DeutschFall
Italianoparanco, cavo, drizza

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{jeer_2026,
  title = {jeer},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/jeer},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}