half-smile

British

noun

a smile that is uncertain or short-lived

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 8, 2025

And gone is the soft focus, the half-smile and the parted lips from her official portrait last time she was in the White House.

From BBC • Jan. 27, 2025

Even Dr. P., who had been stone-faced, gave a half-smile.

From Slate • Nov. 26, 2023

And when Nate explains that his boss is “actually really decent,” Jade responds with the eternal half-smile of the person who knows better.

From New York Times • May 10, 2023

But when I looked at him, I saw a little half-smile creeping across his face.

From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023