MEANING
1. With doubt, distrust, or disapproval toward a person, idea, or action.
2. With a sideways or slanting glance rather than a direct look.
Use it for
describing a disapproving look; showing skepticism toward an offer; portraying distrust without an outright accusation; describing an institution viewing a proposal unfavorablyExpresses a distrustful or disapproving response, including a figurative judgment that involves no actual glance. Writing functions: Characterization / Suspicion.
Words that belong together
- look askance at a proposal
- look askance at someone
- view something askance
On the page
The neighbors looked askance at deliveries made after midnight.
Several reviewers looked askance at the unexplained change in the sample.
Without turning from the mirror, she glanced askance toward the doorway.
He looked askance at the window while keeping his head perfectly still.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- askance
Usage notes
Adverb, most often in look askance at someone or something. No comparative or superlative inflection. WordNet also records an occasional literary adjectival use. Register: formal. Commonness: uncommon (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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