askance

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The Word of the Day for February 3 is:

askance   \uh-SKANSS\   adverb
     1 : with a side-glance : obliquely
    *2 : with disapproval or distrust : scornfully

Example sentence:
     "How demurely the little urchins look at him askance as he surveys them 
when they are all seated, with a glare of the eye peculiar to beadles!" 
(Charles Dickens, _Sketches by Boz_)

Did you know?
     Etymologists have been scratching their heads over the origin of "askance" 
for centuries. Sources from Italian and Old Norse, among other languages, have 
been suggested, but, today, dictionary editors look askance at all of these 
explanations and simply label the word "origin unknown." What we do know is 
that the word was first used in English in the mid-16th century with the 
meaning "sideways" or "with a sideways glance," and that writers over the years 
have used the suggestion of someone looking askance at something to express a 
number of feelings from disapproval and distrust to jealousy.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.  





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