fleer
One who flees.
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. - 1720, Jonathan Swift, To Stella, visiting me in my sickness:
Origin
Possibly from a Scandinavian source, compare Norwegian bokmål flire (“to giggle”), Jutish Danish flire.
Noun Entry 2
- One who flees.
- Which fear of the fleers away was no less ignominious, then if[…]they had turned their backs to the enemie. - 1598, R. Grenewey, Annales, translation of original by Tacitus:
Origin
Etymology tree English flee Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English fleer From flee + -er.
Forms
Verb
- 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. - 1599, William...
- [I]n short, sneering and fleering at him in her cold barren way[.] - 1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History:
Synonyms: deride sneer mock gibe badger bam barrack brock bullyrag chiack fleer fligger flite geck heckle hound jeer nip outlaugh poke borack ridicule scoff taunt twit
- 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...
Synonyms: fligger