askance
Americanadverb
-
with suspicion, mistrust, or disapproval.
He looked askance at my offer.
- Synonyms:
- suspiciously, skeptically
-
with a side glance; sidewise; obliquely.
adverb
-
with an oblique glance
-
with doubt or mistrust
Etymology
Origin of askance
First recorded in 1520–30; earlier a scanche, a sca(u)nce; of obscure origin
Explanation
You may have trouble watching a gory horror movie, but you also won't be able to look away. Find a happy medium by looking askance, or subtly out of the corner of your eye. First used in the 1500's, no one is quite sure where the cockeyed, slanting adverb askance came from. Some people suspect that it evolved from the Latin a scancio, meaning “obliquely, slantingly,” while others argue that it’s just a variant of the word askew. How fitting for a word that describes a suspicious or distrusting manner of looking that we can't trace its etymology with any surety.
Vocabulary lists containing askance
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For instance, if you took the standard deduction last year and itemized your deductions this year, the IRS would not look askance.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 23, 2026
Although municipalities can issue tax-exempt debt, credit agencies might look askance at the higher burdens.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 10, 2025
But prospective lenders began to look askance at First Brands’ earnings.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2025
She looked mostly like this while saying it — eyes askance, either pre-or-post hand on chin — a vibe, nay, a mood that she carried throughout most of the debate.
From Salon • Sep. 11, 2024
They did not look askance at the attic hatch, but that was no guarantee that next time things would proceed along the same lines.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
