half-smile

noun

1. a smile that is uncertain or short-lived

Example Sentences

She’s singularly gifted with the ability to oppose the film’s garish elements with a flicker of her eyes, or a cracked half-smile that furtively suggests Grace is still somewhere in there, trying her hardest not to be swallowed by a shadow self.

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“His eyes were semi-open. And he had this knowing, Mona Lisa-like half-smile. Like he’d died happy. Like Jesus rescued him. The bullet came, he blinked, and he was in heaven.”

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Only the dark shades he sports and a wry half-smile hint at the performer to come.

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"My family doesn't understand," he said with a half-smile.

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The Yalie glad-hander with a legendary pained half-smile campaigned heavily against Fine in the days leading up to the special election, even as he knew it was useless.

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