How to use askance in a sentence

16 example sentences · adverb, adjective, verb

Askance means of a glance or look: with disapproval, skepticism, or suspicion. Example: “The beggar asked for change, but the haughty woman only looked at him askance.”

Examples of askance by meaning

adverbOf a glance or look: with disapproval, skepticism, or suspicion.

The beggar asked for change, but the haughty woman only looked at him askance.
The scandal of opposition died down, and the stone-carver himself, though the town-folk continued to eye him askance, was able to secure other work through the favor of discriminating patrons.1932, Clark Ashton Smith, The Maker of Gargoyles
Even the Democrat voters that might look askance at a Green Party candidate, I want you guys to consider this.2026 April 22, Nathan J. Robinson, Butch Ware, “The Green Party’s Butch Ware: ‘I Love a Good Fight’”, in Current Affairs, archived from the...

verbTo look at (someone or something) with a sideways glance.

Bowed heads, Aunt Ellen's, Aunt Laura's, her sister's — bowed but askancing her yellow dress — yes, yellow, golden yellow, hue of sun and life, Dad's favorite, to see him off on this, his greatest journey.1953, Lowry Charles Wimberly, Prairie Schooner, volume 27, page 406
"My dear sir," said Hube in an authoritative manner to the receptionist askancing Thales, "first of all, we aren't tourists.1997, Tibor Fischer, The Thought Gang, page 185

More sentences with askance

His seedy, dirt-smudged visage caused her to look at him askance.From the entry seedy
China may look askance at the US and North Korean militaries working together like this.29 February 2012, Aidan Foster-Carter, BBC News North Korea: The denuclearisation dance resumeshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17213948. From the entry dock
He sat bright-eyed and askance, twitching his nose and looking at me while not looking at me.a. 1931 (date written), D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “[Nature and Poetical Pieces.] Adolf.”, in Edward D[avid] McDonald, editor, Phoenix…. From the entry dabble
He looked askance as Mustafa lumbered by.2013, Ruchama King Feuerman, In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist, New York Review of Books, →ISBN, page 218. From the entry falafel
He glanced across her at the jawless, pie-faced woman soon to be her mother-in-law, whose owlish eyes were fixed askance upon their hands.2001, Roger Ladd Memott, The Gypsy Lover. From the entry pie-faced
It was just like an old novel: an ornate iron gate was opened by a liveried janitor, looking askance at my rather derelict pushbike.1984, Tad Sobolewski, Crossing the Bridges, Adelaide, S.A.: Dezsery Ethnic Publications, →ISBN, page 3. From the entry pushbike
For Haus Wachenfeld was only a modest country house, a big Bavarian chalet which today would be looked at askance by a new-rich shopkeeper.1968, Nerin E. Gun, Eva Braun: Hitler's Mistress, page 111. From the entry new-rich
Casanovists who had previously looked askance upon the Busoni version and who were now in an unrivaled position to say, " I told you so."1952, James Rives Childs, A Clue to the Mystery of Casanova's Memoirs. From the entry Casanovist
George was looking at me askance, so I added that Michael was only too happy to see new faces in his gang because he didn't favouritize.2020, P.J.P. Tuffrey, Leaving Michael, page 74. From the entry favouritize
I would tend to look askance at the fan who's focussed all their activities into one area of fandom, whether it's fanzines, masquerade costuming, or conrunning.1986 June, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, “GoB Criteria”, in The Mad 3 Party, number 12, page 18. From the entry concom
He exchanged greetings with his rival, but their shake-hands was rather a cold one, and each looked the other askance, as if distrust was in their hearts.1909, Frederick Lawton, translation of Jules Verne, The Chase of the Golden Meteor, p.44 (London: Grant Richards). From the entry shake hands

Meaning of askance

adverb Of a glance or look: with disapproval, skepticism, or suspicion.
adverb Obliquely, sideways.
adjective Turned to the side, especially of the eyes.

Full definition of askance

Questions about askance in a sentence

How do you use askance in a sentence?: Askance is used as an adverb, adjective and verb. For example: “The beggar asked for change, but the haughty woman only looked at him askance.”
What is a short sentence with askance?: “He looked askance as Mustafa lumbered by.”
What does askance mean?: Askance means of a glance or look: with disapproval, skepticism, or suspicion.

Adapted from Wiktionary: askance (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use askance in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/askance. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.