smirk

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (1)  · 
“
Never for a moment had she worn the air of invitation; a smirk was a thing unknown to her; the fact of his titular dignity she seemed wholly to disregard.

View all »
Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. intransitive verb To smile in an affected, often offensively self-satisfied manner.
  2. noun An affected, often offensively self-satisfied smile.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • Dean Swift replies with a knowing smirk, which is the nearest approach to a laugh in which he ever indulged. —  The Project Gutenberg eBook of Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great: Great Musicians, by Elbert Hubbard
  • Her eyebrows were arched, her mouth shaped into something that could only be described as a smirk. —  AHMM, October 2006
  • God I'm getting cornier by the day. * silly smirk* I love you all —  Kottu
  • Dr. PA Available for Consultations ... * smirk* ... —  Patient Anonymous: Just Another Head Case
  • He KNEW exactly how the comment would be taken; his pregnant pause, smirk, and chuckle just prior to delivering the "punch line" was clearly an intentional rhetorical device. —  WordPress.com News
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 191 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

chuckle ·  sneer ·  grin ·  wink ·  leer ·  grimace ·  shrug ·  half-smile ·  twinkle ·  glint ·  undertone ·  grunt

Used in the same contextWord Family

smirk:   smirked
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English smirken, from Old English smercian, to smile; see smei- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. Formerly also smerk; from Middle English smirken, from Anglo-Saxon smercian, smirk; with formative -c (-k), from the simple form seen in Middle High German smieren, same as smielen, smile: see smile.
  2. from smirk, v.
  3. Also smerk; prob. a variant (simulating smirk?) of smert, older form of smart: see smart.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/smərk/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a month.

Recently looked up

pinnacles · flunk · tremulous · tendre · hospice

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

eu oi oìa u ou e u oìa · the octopi are dry · Kansas City · spell it rite · put it in your pocket