as in smiling
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Dissimilar Words
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of grinning
Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2026
Mazeroski dashed around the bases, grinning and waving his cap, joined by celebrants from the stands who had rushed on to the field and followed him to home plate, where his teammates embraced him.
—ABC News, 21 Feb. 2026
Processions of awestruck people from all over the world—selfie-taking women in saris, chatty Mexican children, grinning Hare Krishna—marched along a paved path, heads craned upward toward the water.
—Alice Gregory, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Feb. 2026
Four minutes into Bad Bunny’s halftime show during the Super Bowl, the camera panned over two rows of grinning string players.
—Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
Barack and Michelle Obama were depicted as grinning, dancing apes.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 6 Feb. 2026
One of the defining images of this Super Bowl run for Patriots fans will be a bloodied Vrabel, grinning after a celebratory headbutt from Milton Williams after a fourth-down sack that sealed a wild-card win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
—Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 5 Feb. 2026
The room sighs in relief a second later when Buckley reanimates, jerking and flailing like a soul possessed, grinning maniacally — all on purpose, inspired by the earlier veil snafu.
—Sydney Bucksbaum, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Feb. 2026
Epstein can be seen grinning during their conversation.
—Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 3 Feb. 2026
Verb
The two men posed, grinning and giving a thumbs-up, for a photo that was posted to Graham’s X account.
—Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2026
Mazeroski dashed around the bases, grinning and waving his cap, joined by celebrants from the stands who had rushed on to the field and followed him to home plate, where his teammates embraced him.
—ABC News, 21 Feb. 2026
Processions of awestruck people from all over the world—selfie-taking women in saris, chatty Mexican children, grinning Hare Krishna—marched along a paved path, heads craned upward toward the water.
—Alice Gregory, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Feb. 2026
Four minutes into Bad Bunny’s halftime show during the Super Bowl, the camera panned over two rows of grinning string players.
—Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
Barack and Michelle Obama were depicted as grinning, dancing apes.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 6 Feb. 2026
One of the defining images of this Super Bowl run for Patriots fans will be a bloodied Vrabel, grinning after a celebratory headbutt from Milton Williams after a fourth-down sack that sealed a wild-card win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
—Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 5 Feb. 2026
The room sighs in relief a second later when Buckley reanimates, jerking and flailing like a soul possessed, grinning maniacally — all on purpose, inspired by the earlier veil snafu.
—Sydney Bucksbaum, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Feb. 2026
Epstein can be seen grinning during their conversation.
—Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 3 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grinning
Adjective
-
As Thomas’ parents, Katina Smith and Bobby Thomas, unveiled their son’s smiling statue in the Broncos’ Ring of Fame Plaza last Sunday, as scores of his former teammates looked on in sadness and joy, Miller was 800 miles away in Dallas, gearing up for a game against the Cowboys.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Even Wilder was completely engaged, spotting colorful beadwork and laughing as Alvin played.—
Jordi Lippe-McGraw,
Condé Nast Traveler,
24 Feb. 2026
-
More of the Clyburn family is seen throughout the trailer crying, laughing and living in Montana.—
Brayden Garcia,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Grinning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grinning. Accessed 4 Mar. 2026.
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