Meanings
jeer1
plural jeers
- 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.
present singular third person jeers · participle present jeering · participle past jeered · past jeered
- intransitiveTo 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.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 211 more example
At the end of a frantic first 45 minutes, there was still time for Charlie Adam to strike the bar from 20 yards before referee Atkinson departed to a deafening chorus of jeering from Everton's fans.
2011 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0 - 2 Liverpool”, in BBC SportSynonyms: laugh at, scoff, sneer, hoot, gird, jibe, laugh at, scoff
- archaictransitiveTo mock; treat with mockery; to taunt.
And if we cannot jeer them, we jeer ourselves.
1625 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Staple of Newes. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot […], published 1631, →OCLC, (please specify the page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)Synonyms: deride, flout, gibe, mock, ridicule, befool, chaff, disparage
jeer2
plural jeers
- in pluralnauticalAn 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
1984, James Lees, The masting and rigging of English ships of war, 1625-1860, page 65
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo utter sarcastic or mocking comments; to speak with mockery or derision; to use taunting language.
verbTo mock; treat with mockery; to taunt.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
jeer · noun, verb
- Dutchgekscheren“to jeer”
- Dutchgieren“to roar with laughter, laugh loudly”
- Englishjeer
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.
More words from Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek τωθασμός, σκώπτω
- τωθασμός (tōthasmós)mocking remark
- σκώπτω (skṓptō)to scoff or mock
- χλευάζω (khleuázō)to scoff or mock
Bulgarian подигравка, подигравам се
- подигравка (podigravka)mocking remark
- подигравам се (podigravam se)to scoff or mock
- надсмивам се (nadsmivam se)to scoff or mock
Catalan burleria, mofar-se
- burleriamocking remark
- mofar-seto scoff or mock
- fer befato scoff or mock
- riure's (d'algú)to scoff or mock
- fotre's (d'algú)to scoff or mock
- escarnirto scoff or mock
Chinese Mandarin 嘲笑, 嘲弄
- 嘲笑 (cháoxiào)to scoff or mock
- 嘲弄 (cháonòng)to scoff or mock
Czech posměšek, posmívat se
- posměšekmocking remark
- posmívat seto scoff or mock
Dutch spotten
- spottento scoff or mock
Esperanto moki, ŝerci
- mokito scoff or mock
- ŝercito scoff or mock
Finnish pilkka, pilkata
- pilkkamocking remark
- pilkatato scoff or mock
- ilkkuato scoff or mock
- taljastonautical: assemblage for hoisting yards
French moquerie, raillerie
- moqueriemocking remark
- railleriemocking remark
- moquerto scoff or mock
- raillerto scoff or mock
German Spott, spotten
- Spottmocking remark
- spottento scoff or mock
- Fallgear; tackle
Italian scherno, scorno
- schernomocking remark
- scornomocking remark
- burlamocking remark
- beffamocking remark
- deridereto scoff or mock
- schernireto scoff or mock
- motteggiareto scoff or mock
- sbeffeggiareto scoff or mock
- parancogear; tackle
- cavogear; tackle
- drizzagear; tackle
Japanese 冷やかす, 野次る
- 冷やかす (hiyakasu)to scoff or mock
- 野次る (yajiru)to scoff or mock
- 嘲る (azakeru)to scoff or mock
Latin cavillor
- cavillorto scoff or mock
Latvian ņirgāties
- ņirgātiesto scoff or mock
Māori pepehatū, pehapehatū
- pepehatūto scoff or mock
- pehapehatūto scoff or mock
- whakateato scoff or mock
- taunuto scoff or mock
Polish wyśmiewać, kpić
- wyśmiewaćto scoff or mock
- kpićto scoff or mock
Portuguese zombaria, escárnio
- zombariamocking remark
- escárniomocking remark
- zombarto scoff or mock
- escarnecerto scoff or mock
- ridicularizarto scoff or mock
Russian глумле́ние, насме́шка
- глумле́ние (glumlénije)mocking remark
- насме́шка (nasméška)mocking remark
- pfto scoff or mock
- высме́ивать (vysméivatʹ)to scoff or mock
- вы́смеять (výsmejatʹ)to scoff or mock
Scottish Gaelic mag
- magto scoff or mock
Spanish burlería, burlarse
- burleríamocking remark
- burlarseto scoff or mock
- abuchearto scoff or mock
Swedish glåpord, okvädingsord
- glåpordmocking remark
- okvädingsordmocking remark
- häcklato scoff or mock
- pikato scoff or mock
- smädato scoff or mock
Tagalog atsoy
- atsoymocking remark
Vietnamese chế giễu
- chế giễuto scoff or mock
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with jeer
Cite this entry
jeer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jeer
“jeer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jeer. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jeer,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jeer.
Source: jeer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.