as in laughing
to express an emotion (as amusement) by curving the lips upward
grinned at the kids' fooling around in the pool
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in smiling
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of grinning
Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 13 Oct. 2025
Twenty yards melting into history, Martin tumbled forward and rose grinning, his team’s fake punt gamble striking gold.
—Ira Gorawara, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2025
Both characters are grinning, and Briney’s shirt is mostly unbuttoned and revealing tattoos on his torso.
—Selome Hailu, Variety, 9 Oct. 2025
Leto, meanwhile, stays in character throughout the exchange and strikes a playful kung fu pose of his own before grinning as the robot continues its routine.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 7 Oct. 2025
At first, Emily and Rich didn’t think much of it — until the staffer returned, grinning, and handed them his phone.
—Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 6 Oct. 2025
Swift clearly doesn’t want to play the ever-grinning showgirl anymore.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 3 Oct. 2025
Word, Cali said, still grinning.
—Bryan Washington, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2025
Storm chasers took selfies, grinning ear-to-ear.
—Hayleigh Evans, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
In the nearly two-minute preview, fans get a glimpse at how present her now-fiancé was behind the scenes, at one point crouching underneath the stage and grinning wide as the pop star bends down and kisses him on the cheek.
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 13 Oct. 2025
Twenty yards melting into history, Martin tumbled forward and rose grinning, his team’s fake punt gamble striking gold.
—Ira Gorawara, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2025
Both characters are grinning, and Briney’s shirt is mostly unbuttoned and revealing tattoos on his torso.
—Selome Hailu, Variety, 9 Oct. 2025
Leto, meanwhile, stays in character throughout the exchange and strikes a playful kung fu pose of his own before grinning as the robot continues its routine.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 7 Oct. 2025
At first, Emily and Rich didn’t think much of it — until the staffer returned, grinning, and handed them his phone.
—Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 6 Oct. 2025
Swift clearly doesn’t want to play the ever-grinning showgirl anymore.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 3 Oct. 2025
Word, Cali said, still grinning.
—Bryan Washington, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2025
Storm chasers took selfies, grinning ear-to-ear.
—Hayleigh Evans, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grinning
Verb
-
In a photo from the wedding posted to a guest's Instagram Stories, Beatrice was seen in a sparkly black dress while smiling beside the happy couple.—
Greta Bjornson,
PEOPLE,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Last month, Rucker revealed their relationship to the world by sharing a smiling selfie of the couple standing outside Sphere in Las Vegas.—
Shania Russell,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Darius is looking over from the sideline, laughing at me.—
Michael Silver,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
-
There were several more pool pics of them together, some showed the couple laughing.—
Angel Saunders,
PEOPLE,
8 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Grinning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grinning. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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