a digital icon, a sequence of keyboard symbols, or a handwritten or printed equivalent, that serves to represent a facial expression, as :‐) for a smiling face or ;‐) for a winking face.
Usually smile face a drawing of a face consisting of a usually yellow circle with an upturned curve for a smile and two dots for eyes.
given to smiling; cheerful
depicting a smile
a smiley badge
1985–90
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It’s A No For Me,” he tersely posted on social media, accompanied by a smiley face emoji wearing shades.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
Images on social media showed a person scaling the fence in a costume that included a smiley face head with sunglasses, prompting the monkeys to scatter.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
The smiley, huggy Vrabel is the sports dad we all wanted, and North Carolinian Maye actually has some of that early-Brady stardust.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026
She was "really smiley and happy," Grace said, thanking everyone for their support.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026
Leo had wanted to paint a giant message on the bottom of the hull—WASSUP? with a smiley face—but Annabeth vetoed the idea.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
“Meta is really at a sort of crossroads moment, even though its business is doing well,” said Minda Smiley, a senior analyst at eMarketer who focuses on social media.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026
"For years, social media companies have claimed they're hard at work making their platforms safer for kids and teenagers," said Minda Smiley, an analyst at eMarketer.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
The person of interest in police custody will be released, said Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said Sunday night.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 2025
Smiley said the city should be able to "breathe a little easier" after the shelter order was lifted.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2025
After Mrs. Gordy left, Mama made me go to my room while she told Papa what Miss Sarah said Mrs. Snodgrass said Smiley said I said.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
The original Twitter thread, laden with exclamation points and smileys, aimed to provoke amazement and incredulity.
From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2021
Yellow smileys painted on the tarmac reminded everyone to keep atwo metres apart.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 24, 2020
The results of a study about using smileys in email may be disappointing to emoji lovers.
From Time ● Aug. 17, 2017
Now, though, that record may come down to anodyne emails with smileys at the end.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 24, 2016
We call them smileys because when you’re done eating all the meat off it, the goat looks like it’s smiling at you from the plate.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
