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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of grinning
Hayleigh Evans, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2025
In one first-day clip, Kaavia’s proud parents stood side-by-side snapping photos of their daughter while grinning.
—Rachel McRady, People.com, 28 Aug. 2025
These hollow plastic figures, reminiscent of grinning pumpkins, witches, ghosts, and black cats, were popular from the 1950s through the 1980s.
—Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Aug. 2025
After scrolling through truly stellar Trustpilot reviews and grinning at the giddy airport-reveal videos on their Facebook page, my husband and I decided to take the leap and fill out the survey.
—Ashley Kennedy, Robb Report, 14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
Storm chasers took selfies, grinning ear-to-ear.
—Hayleigh Evans, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2025
In one first-day clip, Kaavia’s proud parents stood side-by-side snapping photos of their daughter while grinning.
—Rachel McRady, People.com, 28 Aug. 2025
These hollow plastic figures, reminiscent of grinning pumpkins, witches, ghosts, and black cats, were popular from the 1950s through the 1980s.
—Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Aug. 2025
After scrolling through truly stellar Trustpilot reviews and grinning at the giddy airport-reveal videos on their Facebook page, my husband and I decided to take the leap and fill out the survey.
—Ashley Kennedy, Robb Report, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grinning
Verb
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As North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stepped off his armored green train in Beijing on Tuesday, greeted by Chinese officials shaking his hand and leading him down a red carpet, many observers noticed a young girl walking behind him, smiling politely, dressed in black with her hair tied in a bow.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
3 Sep. 2025
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Customers who came in to buy tickets for the drawing were smiling, too.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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While you guys had staff inside laughing, pointing and even flicking off the crowd outside.—
Megan Cartwright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Sep. 2025
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Earlier this week, however, Swizz shared a video of the couple smiling, laughing and dancing together to Instagram.—
Jack Irvin,
PEOPLE,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Grinning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grinning. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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