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fleer

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To mock or jeer contemptuously; a scornful laugh—suggesting derision, often in dramatic or satirical contexts.

Detailed Definition
“Fleer” implies derisive facial expression or sound, common in dramatic insults. In poetry, it marks social or moral contempt—courtiers fleering at virtue. The term’s onomatopoeic quality enhances caricature. Poets use it in satirical or tragic contexts to show how ridicule wounds or isolates, reinforcing themes of honor, pride, and public judgment.
Example
Example in poetry:
"He fleered at the solemn rites," in a satirical scene; In Shakespeare’s Macbeth: "And be these juggling fiends no more believed, / That palter with us in a double sense... / And keep the word of promise to the ear, / And break it to the hope. Fleers at me now"; "The jester fleered, though death approached"; "Fleer not at sacred things," warns the priest; "She fleered, but her eyes wept"; The victor fleered over the fallen.
Additional Notes
“Fleer” denotes mocking laughter with contempt; in dramatic or satirical poetry, it exposes arrogance or folly, and the “fleering fiend” becomes a stock figure of cynical commentary on human weakness.
Also Known As
sneer mock jeer
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