as in grimaced
to smile in an unpleasant way because you are pleased with yourself, glad about someone else's trouble, etc.
She tried not to smirk when they announced the winner.
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Recent Examples of smirked
Sneed repeated, and then smirked.
—
Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 26 Sep. 2025
Stabler smirked before opening the door for her and wishing her a good night.
—Alex Ross, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
Chiles, waiting to speak in the back of the room, shook his head briefly and smirked.
—Noah White, Miami Herald, 12 Sep. 2025
When told about his numbers, Coleman kind of smirked at the total, expecting a larger number.
—Chris Hays, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 Aug. 2025
Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 26 Sep. 2025
Stabler smirked before opening the door for her and wishing her a good night.
—Alex Ross, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
Chiles, waiting to speak in the back of the room, shook his head briefly and smirked.
—Noah White, Miami Herald, 12 Sep. 2025
When told about his numbers, Coleman kind of smirked at the total, expecting a larger number.
—Chris Hays, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smirked
Verb
-
Shelton first grimaced in pain after hitting a forehand at the end of the third set.—
Adam Zagoria,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
-
Roupp immediately grimaced and collapsed onto the infield grass.—
Andrew Baggarly,
New York Times,
21 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Coach Jim Harbaugh stared back as the clock ticked — 19 seconds, 18, 17, 16, 15.—
Daniel Popper,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Daria stared at the arrangement of perfectly circular reddish bruises on the woman’s back, exposed by her halter top.—
Catherine Lacey,
New Yorker,
5 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
That wasn’t something that was frowned upon.—
Max Gao,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Japan was in a deep recession, but Uniqlo kept growing, offering bargains for the struggling masses and discretion for better-off consumers in an era that frowned upon conspicuous consumption.—
Lauren Collins,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Smirked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smirked. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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