thumb one's nose
thumb one's nose verb: to place a thumb upon the tip of the nose, typically with the fingers spread and while simultaneously wiggling one's fingers, in a gesture of disrespect.
Verb
thumb one's nose (third-person singular simple present thumbs one's nose, present participle thumbing one's nose, simple past and past participle thumbed one's nose)
- To place a thumb upon the tip of the nose, typically with the fingers spread and while simultaneously wiggling one's fingers, in a gesture of disrespect.
- My brother thumbed his nose in reply to my snide remarks.
- Synonyms:
- cock a snook
- To act disrespectfully, especially by flouting the object of disrespect.
- Richard Feynman delighted in thumbing his nose at the dissidents and workers.
Synonyms of thumb one's nose
Forms of thumb one's nose
| third-person singular present | thumbs one's nose |
|---|---|
| present participle | thumbing one's nose |
| past participle | thumbed one's nose |
| past | thumbed one's nose |
Origin of thumb one's nose
See thumb, nose.
Questions about thumb one's nose
- What does thumb one's nose mean?
- Thumb one's nose means to place a thumb upon the tip of the nose, typically with the fingers spread and while simultaneously wiggling one's fingers, in a gesture of disrespect.
- What part of speech is thumb one's nose?
- Thumb one's nose is a verb.
- What is the past tense of thumb one's nose?
- The past tense of thumb one's nose is thumbed one's nose.
Words near thumb one's nose in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: thumb one's nose (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-thumb one's nose.ogg.
Cite this entry: “thumb one's nose.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/thumb_one%27s_nose. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.