as in solemn
not joking or playful in mood or manner
delivered the reprimand with a harsh and unsmiling face
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Recent Examples of unsmiling
The camera showed an unsmiling Taurasi shaking her head.
—
Beth Harris, Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2025
The portrait's lack of background and Trump's unsmiling gaze further differentiates it from those of his predecessors.
—Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 4 June 2025
And often next to Ed, holding a single malt, there would be an unsmiling writer of great pretension looking down at you from a great height.
—Gary Shteyngart, The Atlantic, 4 June 2025
His Rick Honeycutt is utterly humorless, but the movie isn’t; there are plenty of laughs in pitting his deadpan impatience — conveyed by an unsmiling mouth under a push-broom mustache — against the idiot confidence of Billy Crudup’s man-child entrepreneur.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for unsmiling
Beth Harris, Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2025
The portrait's lack of background and Trump's unsmiling gaze further differentiates it from those of his predecessors.
—Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 4 June 2025
And often next to Ed, holding a single malt, there would be an unsmiling writer of great pretension looking down at you from a great height.
—Gary Shteyngart, The Atlantic, 4 June 2025
His Rick Honeycutt is utterly humorless, but the movie isn’t; there are plenty of laughs in pitting his deadpan impatience — conveyed by an unsmiling mouth under a push-broom mustache — against the idiot confidence of Billy Crudup’s man-child entrepreneur.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for unsmiling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsmiling
Adjective
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The new film Leviticus, from director Adrian Chiarella, is a solemn and frightening acknowledgment of that reality, albeit one allegorized into supernatural horror.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Jan. 2026
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Longitudinal documentaries — shot over many years and following their subjects over wide swaths of their lives — sometimes have a tendency to totalize, almost as if their scope justifies and perhaps demands a solemn, all-encompassing thesis.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Is the therapist easy-going or stern?—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
21 Jan. 2026
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As red and white confetti rained down onto the field at Hard Rock Stadium Monday night, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti — known for his stern demeanor on the field — widely grinned towards his players and coaches knowing his team had done what many previously thought was impossible.—
Greg Rosenstein,
NBC news,
20 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Still, the Broncos’ O-line had better be prepared for a New England defense on a serious heater.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
23 Jan. 2026
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Any serious strategy to secure the Arctic, deter adversaries and protect North America runs directly through Greenland.—
Paul McCarthy,
Boston Herald,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unsmiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsmiling. Accessed 26 Jan. 2026.
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