askance

Everyday

1. To look askance at something or someone is to look at them with doubt, suspicion or disapproval. tree →
2. (old) Askance means sideways, out of the corner of your eye. tree →

In the lessons

Used in stories and formal writing: «the neighbours looked askance at Toad's new motor car» means they did not approve. It shows that people doubt or distrust something without saying so.

Examples

• The old ladies looked askance at the noisy children. tree →
• The teacher looked askance at his excuse. tree →
• Badger looked askance at Toad's new hobby. tree →
• People looked askance at the strange visitor. tree →
• She glanced askance at the plate of snails. tree →
• The cat eyed the dog askance. tree →

Note

Almost always in «look askance at». Pronounced a-SKANSS. Formal and literary.

In Jewish tradition

In the Psalm the mountains are pictured as looking with envy or scorn at the mountain God chose.

Interpretation. Commentators read it as the high mountains envying Mount Zion, which God chose as His home. It teaches that God prefers a humble place to a tall one.

Examples

• Why look ye askance, ye mountains of peaks, at the mountain which God hath desired for His abode? (Writings PSA.68.17, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Almost always in «look askance at». Pronounced a-SKANSS. Formal and literary.