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unsmiling

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adjective un·smil·ing \ ˌən-ˈsmī-liŋ \

Definition of unsmiling

:not smiling or tending to smile :marked by a somber or serious expression or attitude
  • a stern, unsmiling teacher
—

unsmilingly

adverb
    • His views were unsmilingly stated, implacably held, and amenable to no reasonable argument.
    • —Simon Winchester

See unsmiling defined for English-language learners

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Recent Examples of unsmiling from the Web

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'unsmiling.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of unsmiling

1826

unsmiling Synonyms

Synonyms
earnest, grave, humorless, no-nonsense, po-faced [British], sedate, severe, sober, sobersided, solemn, staid, uncomic, serious, weighty
Antonyms
facetious, flip, flippant, humorous, jesting, jocular, joking, kittenish, ludic, playful
Related Words
harsh, stern, strict; businesslike, professional; dignified, distinguished, elevated, serious-minded; gloomy, grim
Near Antonyms
antic, comic, comical, droll, farcical, funny, hilarious, hysterical (also hysteric), laughable, light, light-headed, ludicrous, ridiculous, riotous, risible, screaming, sidesplitting, uproarious; featherbrained, flighty, frivolous, goofy, harebrained, lighthearted, puerile, scatterbrained; absurd, asinine, balmy, brainless, cockeyed, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dotty, fatuous, foolish, half-witted, insane, jerky, kooky (also kookie), loony (also looney), lunatic, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, senseless, silly, unwise, wacky (also whacky), weak-minded, witless, zany

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