as in smiled
to express an emotion (as amusement) by curving the lips upward
grinned at the kids' fooling around in the pool
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Recent Examples of grinned
Watching Woolery climb the UCLA RBI record book, Grant grinned and reveled in it.
—
Ira Gorawara, New York Times, 15 May 2026
Assaidi, who grinned widely as he was led out of an NYPD stationhouse on his way to court for his arraignment, did not have any prior arrests, police said.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 24 Apr. 2026
As the others grinned and grimaced at their rivals’ responses, Becerra was as stone-faced as Buster Keaton.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2026
With that, Wedgewood leaned into the microphone and grinned.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 20 Apr. 2026
Haight, 22, grinned wide as teammates celebrated with him along the boards after his first goal, which came in the ninth game of his rookie campaign.
—Oc Register, 15 Apr. 2026
In response to the King’s pat on the cheek, Louis grinned at his grandfather.
—Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 6 Apr. 2026
Swift flashed her old mine brilliant cut ring to the camera while Kelce grinned wide.
—Bryan West, USA Today, 27 Mar. 2026
Asked about the fake out, Mara grinned.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 21 Mar. 2026
Ira Gorawara, New York Times, 15 May 2026
Assaidi, who grinned widely as he was led out of an NYPD stationhouse on his way to court for his arraignment, did not have any prior arrests, police said.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 24 Apr. 2026
As the others grinned and grimaced at their rivals’ responses, Becerra was as stone-faced as Buster Keaton.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2026
With that, Wedgewood leaned into the microphone and grinned.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 20 Apr. 2026
Haight, 22, grinned wide as teammates celebrated with him along the boards after his first goal, which came in the ninth game of his rookie campaign.
—Oc Register, 15 Apr. 2026
In response to the King’s pat on the cheek, Louis grinned at his grandfather.
—Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 6 Apr. 2026
Swift flashed her old mine brilliant cut ring to the camera while Kelce grinned wide.
—Bryan West, USA Today, 27 Mar. 2026
Asked about the fake out, Mara grinned.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 21 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grinned
Verb
-
My mother had smiled at the pictures, her eyes brimming.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
-
Her son Aire was pictured wearing a gray hooded tracksuit top and sweetly smiled for a selfie with his mom while sitting on her lap inside the plane.—
Gina Kalsi,
PEOPLE,
2 June 2026
Verb
-
When asked about that, Jones laughed.—
Alex Zalben,
IndieWire,
3 June 2026
-
According to Marcia, George was convinced he’d be laughed out of Hollywood because in the original script characters were running around and shooting at one another and nobody was getting hurt.—
Emily St. Martin,
Los Angeles Times,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Grinned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grinned. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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