Synonyms of smiling

smiling 1 of 3

adjective

as in laughing

Related Words

• laughing
• amused
• jovial
• giggling
• chuckling
• merry
• gleeful
• jolly
• cheerful
• beaming
• mirthful
• cheery
• jocose
• carefree
• festive
• upbeat
• jocular
• blithe
• buoyant
• lighthearted
• sunny
• perky
• joyful
• chipper
• joking
• jubilant
• bouncing
• joyous
• vivacious
• exuberant
• spirited
• lively
• ecstatic
• jocund
• delighted
• enraptured
• jaunty
• animated
• blithesome
• gay
• exultant
• sprightly
• happy
• amusing
• radiant
• rapturous
• blissful
• peppy
• euphoric
• playful
• frisky
• funny
• witty
• hilarious
• blessed
• flippant
• bright
• elated
• optimistic
• overjoyed
• unconcerned
• facetious
• exhilarated
• lightsome
• thrilled
• easygoing
• tickled
• hopeful
• frolicsome
• entranced
• zippy
• sportive
• jesting
• rosy
• gladsome
• ravished
• sanguine
• joshing
• insouciant
• cavalier
• sprightful
• high
• humorous
• comic
• happy-go-lucky
• comical
• riotous
• antic
• uproarious
• farcical
• devil-may-care
• sidesplitting

Dissimilar Words

• crying
• sad
• blue
• unhappy
• depressed
• downcast
• sorrowful
• melancholy
• weeping
• anguished
• glum
• disconsolate
• dejected
• aggrieved
• forlorn
• despondent
• crestfallen
• abject
• wailing
• dispirited
• sobbing
• heartbroken
• saddened
• disheartened
• brokenhearted
• discontented
• disgruntled
• moody
• sorry
• mournful
• black
• plaintive
• heartsick
• gray
• doleful
• sullen
• downhearted
• dark
• moaning
• lugubrious
• gloomy
• somber
• heavyhearted
• low-spirited
• groaning
• joyless
• morose
• depressing
• bleak
• lachrymose
• woeful
• cheerless
• dolorous
• dismal
• desolate
• saturnine
• miserable
• dreary
• woebegone
• comfortless
• listless
• wretched
• lethargic
• sluggish
• dull
• torpid

smiling

2 of 3

noun

as in cheering

Related Words

• laughing
• cheering
• rejoicing
• exultation

Dissimilar Words

• tears
• keen
• groan
• wail
• howl
• moan
• lament
• lamentation
• cry
• plaint
• sob
• suffering
• weeping
• mourning
• sorrowing
• grieving
• agonizing

smiling

3 of 3

verb

present participle of smile

1

as in grinning

to express an emotion (as amusement) by curving the lips upward

the soldier smiled in pleasure when he saw the giant sign welcoming him home

Synonyms & Similar Words

• grinning
• laughing
• beaming
• sneering
• smirking
• simpering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• grimacing
• frowning
• scowling
• glaring
• lowering
• glowering
• pouting
• sulking
• glooming

2

as in sneering

to express scornful amusement by means of facial contortions

smiled at their ridiculous antics and walked away in disgust

Synonyms & Similar Words

• laughing
• sneering
• snickering
• sniggering
• snorting
• sniffing
• jeering
• insulting
• ridiculing
• mocking
• deriding
• gibing
• hooting
• disdaining
• taunting
• despising
• teasing
• decrying
• disparaging
• belittling
• scoffing (at)
• scorning
• catcalling
• tormenting
• razzing
• riding
• heckling
• ribbing
• jiving
• bad-mouthing
• pooh-poohing
• putting down

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of smiling

Adjective

Women in black hijabs and abayas, many wearing badges depicting Zahra’s smiling face, lined the streets as men prayed over her casket, placed outside the Husseiniya, a Shiite hall. — Rania Abouzeid, New Yorker, 21 May 2026

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

Noun

Karen Jesch, a PhD student at Boston College’s Canine Cognition Center, points out that human smiling is a strange behavior to begin with, and not always a happy one. — Niranjana Rajalakshmi, Popular Science, 14 May 2026

There was a lot of nervous smiling. — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025

Umanmielen responded with a GIF of a smiling, but famously blind, Stevie Wonder. — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 25 Sep. 2025

Verb

In 2012, a smiling Jason Arday was photographed by the British press carrying the Olympic flame in the torch relay that preceded the London Games. — ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026

So there sat Pecko on Tuesday afternoon atop a bench inside Dakin Park’s first-base dugout, smiling to hide nerves before the biggest day of his baseball life. — Chandler Rome, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026

The deal was finalized in October 2025, when the NBA distributed a photo of Walter sitting next to a smiling Jeanie Buss. — William Earl, Variety, 18 Aug. 2026

The actress took to Instagram on July 27 to share a black-and-white photo of herself smiling with her friend, photographer Randall Slavin, at a party. — Meg Walters, InStyle, 17 Aug. 2026

Nothing does more to convey approachability and self-confidence than smiling. — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026

In this Instagram photo, she was accompanied by her mother and sister (dressed as the moon and a star, respectively) and her two daughters, Haley, smiling in a unicorn costume, and Hope, dressed in dalmatian spots. — Diane J. Cho, PEOPLE, 9 Aug. 2026

The stories feature the titular George, a mischievous, tailless, almost-always-smiling monkey exploring New York City, and his human companion, the Man in the Yellow Hat. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026

Next comes the arrival of a tinkling blue ice cream truck manned by an eerily silent, smiling, wraith-like purveyor (Ari Millen) with a John Waters mustache. — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2026