as in smile
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Recent Examples of simper
Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025
Today’s announcement marks the emergence of a new GE, a high-tech industrial GE — simper, stronger, a more focused company at the core.
—Jon Chesto, BostonGlobe.com, 26 June 2018
Al Capone lived as a schoolyard bully, died in a simper with a brain et by syphilis, and lives on through eternity as a cigarillo mascot and gimme film role for dark-haired white actors who want a chance to really chew some scenery.
—Paul Dailing, Chicago Reader, 21 Dec. 2017
Marley Marius, Vogue, 30 Apr. 2025
Franco is simpering when he wasn’t distracted, and while Hathaway brings a bit of spirit, most of her lines are only half-funny.
—Bill Wyman, Vulture, 28 Feb. 2025
There was Bhanu, the simpering do-nothing who was eventually put out of his misery but shouldn’t have been cast in the first place.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 23 May 2024
And Grant has made something of a second career out of playing charmingly louche rogues of late, smiling and simpering to perfection as the greedy backstabbing Forge.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 31 Mar. 2023
Didn’t want to be a part of that simpering sorority, a keeper of that shameful secret (for so it was considered at the time), that failure.
—Alice McDermott, Harper's Magazine, 11 Sep. 2023
But Parker always meant to play the quietly cunning Southern belle as anything but simpering, describing the elder DuBois sister as a mental poker player.
—Helena Andrews-Dyer, Washington Post, 23 June 2023
Seated at a ceremonial desk in an airplane hangar, doling out portions of his kingdom to simpering Goneril (Gilmore) and Regan (Lane), this Lear wears the infuriating smirk of a glutton for praise.
—Peter Marks, Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2023
Judging by his simpering public appearances with Putin -- including one where Trump dissed his own US intelligence agencies -- these calls would be fascinating.
—Stephen Collinson, CNN, 16 Oct. 2019
Noun
Sandoval, in comparison, sneers and simpers to no success whatsoever; his bad behavior, on and off The Traitors, yields nothing.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2025
Today’s announcement marks the emergence of a new GE, a high-tech industrial GE — simper, stronger, a more focused company at the core.
—Jon Chesto, BostonGlobe.com, 26 June 2018
Al Capone lived as a schoolyard bully, died in a simper with a brain et by syphilis, and lives on through eternity as a cigarillo mascot and gimme film role for dark-haired white actors who want a chance to really chew some scenery.
—Paul Dailing, Chicago Reader, 21 Dec. 2017
Verb
As divorce rates rose in the 1970s and 1980s, set off by the same shifting social mores that fueled Women’s Lib, Hollywood reacted in kind, trading simpering visions of American domesticity for lively portraits of familial distress.
—Marley Marius, Vogue, 30 Apr. 2025
Franco is simpering when he wasn’t distracted, and while Hathaway brings a bit of spirit, most of her lines are only half-funny.
—Bill Wyman, Vulture, 28 Feb. 2025
There was Bhanu, the simpering do-nothing who was eventually put out of his misery but shouldn’t have been cast in the first place.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 23 May 2024
And Grant has made something of a second career out of playing charmingly louche rogues of late, smiling and simpering to perfection as the greedy backstabbing Forge.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 31 Mar. 2023
Didn’t want to be a part of that simpering sorority, a keeper of that shameful secret (for so it was considered at the time), that failure.
—Alice McDermott, Harper's Magazine, 11 Sep. 2023
But Parker always meant to play the quietly cunning Southern belle as anything but simpering, describing the elder DuBois sister as a mental poker player.
—Helena Andrews-Dyer, Washington Post, 23 June 2023
Seated at a ceremonial desk in an airplane hangar, doling out portions of his kingdom to simpering Goneril (Gilmore) and Regan (Lane), this Lear wears the infuriating smirk of a glutton for praise.
—Peter Marks, Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2023
Judging by his simpering public appearances with Putin -- including one where Trump dissed his own US intelligence agencies -- these calls would be fascinating.
—Stephen Collinson, CNN, 16 Oct. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for simper
Noun
-
He was spotted sharing a a warm smile and lively chat with his mother-in-law mother, Carole Middleton, who was there with her daughter-in-law, Alizée Thévenet, who is married to Kate's brother, James Middleton.—
Simon Perry,
People.com,
19 June 2025
-
Fans who’ve been dying to see Bruno Mars become a Fortnite Festival Icon can now die with a smile, as the game has announced that the hitmaker is its Season 9 headliner.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
18 June 2025
Verb
-
The two cracked up laughing, and not about how Ohtani was swinging the bat.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
17 June 2025
-
Everyone’s singing, dancing, looking at each other, and laughing.—
Angie Martoccio,
Rolling Stone,
17 June 2025
Noun
-
The ability to recite an obscure Lloyd Banks verse earned you some prideful grins or, even better, earnest assistance with your performance.—
Andre Gee,
Rolling Stone,
23 June 2025
-
Giada De Laurentiis poses with a grin on her face in an all white ensemble during the Classic.—
Raven Brunner,
People.com,
23 June 2025
Noun
-
But watching a group of roughnecks on a rig in grubby overalls moving huge, long steel pipes, Dugan's smile begins to fade to a smirk.—
Kirk Siegler,
NPR,
24 Apr. 2025
-
Modern thinkers stopped using these concepts altogether except in quotation marks, with a wink, a smirk, and a glance backward toward the unscientific past.—
Isaac Bashevis Singer,
Harpers Magazine,
26 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Simper.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/simper. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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