nose thumbing
Childish taunting sign
Nose thumbing is a gesture of contempt or defiance—placing the thumb on the nose and wiggling the fingers.
The phrase extends to any act of deliberate disrespect toward authority or convention: The film was pure nose thumbing at Hollywood tradition.
The gesture itself is childish and old-fashioned, but the figurative sense remains common.
- mockeryScornful ridicule or travesty
- defianceOpen resistance to authority
- scornHostile dismissive feeling
- contemptDisdainful disregard
- in your faceAggressively confrontational style
disrespect · snub · taunt · insult · derision · jeer · sneer · sticking tongue out · making faces · insolence · impudence · sass · cheek · talking back · gesture · rudeness · rebellious · bratty
- gesturesgesture, hand gestures, applause, hand raise, tap on shoulder
- nose gesturesnostril flare
social conformity
nose thumbingcompliance
Adhering to requirements
conformity · obedience · submission · acquiescence · rule-following
nose, thumb, noses, nosed, nosing, thumbs, thumbed, thumbing