Meanings
- not comparableLooking sideways, as though warily.
Eyes asquint, he saw she was driving much too fast.
1 more example
Faces never lie, it is said. […] When a man speaks the truth in the spirit of truth, his eye is as clear as the heavens. When he has base ends, and speaks falsely, the eye is muddy and sometimes asquint.
1841, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay IV. Spiritual Laws.”, in Essays, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, page 128
- not comparableWith narrowed eyes.
[B]oth the muſes and the graces are his hard Miſtriſſes, though he daily Invocate them, though he ſacrifize Hecatombs, they ſtil look a ſquint, […]
a. 1632 (date written), John Donne, “[Characters.] The True Character of a Dunce.”, in Paradoxes, Problemes, Essayes, Characters, […], London: […] T. N. for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1652, →OCLC, page 681 more example
It is not to be supposed, however, that in the delivery of such passages I was found at all deficient in the looking asquint—the showing my teeth—the working my knees—the shuffling my feet—or in any of those unmentionable graces which are now justly considered the characteristics of a popular performe
1832, Edgar Allan Poe, Loss of Breath
Synonyms & antonyms
adjective(used especially of glances) directed to one side with or as if with doubt or suspicion or envy
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishasquint
- Englishasquint
From Middle English asquint, asquynt, asqweynt, equivalent to a- (“on, at”) + a word related to Dutch schuinte (“tilt, slant, slope”), Saterland Frisian Schüünte (“slope, slant”), West Frisian skeante (“slope, slant”), German Low German Schüünte (“angle, slant, slope, pitch”). Compare also Middle English askoin, askoyn, of skwyn (“on a slant, askance”), Dutch schuin (“oblique, slanting, sloping”), West Frisian skean (“oblique, slanting, sloping”), German Low German schüün (“slanting”), Norwegian Nynorsk skeina (“to move obliquely”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with asquint
Cite this entry
asquint. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/asquint
“asquint.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/asquint. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “asquint,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/asquint.
Source: asquint on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.