1
as in to grin
to express an emotion (as amusement) by curving the lips upward
the soldier smiled in pleasure when he saw the giant sign welcoming him home
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to laugh
to express scornful amusement by means of facial contortions
smiled at their ridiculous antics and walked away in disgust
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in grin
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of smile
Callum Sutherland, Time, 19 June 2025
Visitors strolled slowly, smiling, feeling lucky to be here.
—Rooksana Hossenally, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025
Christie D’zurilla, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025
The department stores dismiss with superior smiles any attempts to bargain at their counters, yet bargaining is practiced there as much as anywhere else.
—Eileen Chang, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for smile
Verb
In response, Juventus teammates, including American players Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie, awkwardly smiled and shrugged without giving an answer.
—Callum Sutherland, Time, 19 June 2025
Visitors strolled slowly, smiling, feeling lucky to be here.
—Rooksana Hossenally, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025
Noun
And in those years after his No. 1 spotlight had dimmed, Christie still knew how to put smiles on fans’ faces, as evidenced after a performance at a festival at Magic Mountain in 1985.
—Christie D’zurilla, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025
The department stores dismiss with superior smiles any attempts to bargain at their counters, yet bargaining is practiced there as much as anywhere else.
—Eileen Chang, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for smile
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smile
Verb
-
Dated July 4, 1921, the group portrait features a maniacally grinning Torrance amid a sea of camera-facing partygoers.—
Spike Carter,
Air Mail,
14 June 2025
-
From clumsy puppies to grinning chimps, adorable animal content is fantastically popular on social media.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 June 2025
Verb
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Everyone’s singing, dancing, looking at each other, and laughing.—
Angie Martoccio,
Rolling Stone,
17 June 2025
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The two cracked up laughing, and not about how Ohtani was swinging the bat.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
17 June 2025
Noun
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But watching a group of roughnecks on a rig in grubby overalls moving huge, long steel pipes, Dugan's smile begins to fade to a smirk.—
Kirk Siegler,
NPR,
24 Apr. 2025
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Modern thinkers stopped using these concepts altogether except in quotation marks, with a wink, a smirk, and a glance backward toward the unscientific past.—
Isaac Bashevis Singer,
Harpers Magazine,
26 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Smile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smile. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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