askance (adjective, adverb) – not in a direct way, or with doubt or mistrust

Jack the Tripper

Examples:

Does your askance look mean you don’t believe me?

Lots of people will look at you with an askance frown when you tell them there are lots of planets in the universe that have organisms living on them.

The bird was twisting its neck to stare at us askance.

The eating child was looking at us askance to check that we were talking about her.

Her parents were looking at her boyfriend with askance glances, so it was pretty clear he didn’t make a good impression on them.

When I mentioned Santa Claus, the little child looked at me askance as if to say he was getting too old for that rubbish.