rictus
Americannoun
plural
rictus, rictuses-
the gape of the mouth of a bird.
-
the gaping or opening of the mouth.
noun
-
the gap or cleft of an open mouth or beak
-
a fixed or unnatural grin or grimace, as in horror or death
Other Word Forms
- rictal adjective
- subrictal adjective
Etymology
Origin of rictus
1750–60; < Latin: wide-open mouth, equivalent to rig-, variant stem of ringī to open the mouth wide + -tus suffix of v. action.
Explanation
A rictus is a frozen, fake smile. If the star of a play finds herself overcome by stage fright, she might forget her lines and stand, trembling, her mouth twisted into a rictus. The word rictus most often describes a smile that doesn't convey delight or happiness — instead, it's a kind of horrified, involuntary grin. Your smile might freeze on your face in a rictus during a truly terrifying amusement park ride, or your discomfort as you watch your friend sing badly in a talent show might be reflected in your rictus of a grin. In Latin, rictus means "open mouth," from rict-, or "gaped."
Vocabulary lists containing rictus
A Thousand Splendid Suns
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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
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Ready Player One
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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.
In 2004, the couple staged a photocall skiing together to demonstrate a united front - with Victoria giving what Lampert describes as a pained "rictus grin".
From BBC • Jun. 14, 2025
She exudes all the charisma of an A.I.-generated character, her makeup-caked rictus unmoving from the lips up.
From Slate • Jan. 20, 2025
Coverage of his personal appearances focused on his obvious discomfort in meeting with strangers and his fruitless efforts to laugh or even crack a smile, which tended to produce only a hideous facial rictus.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2024
She sings this with an unexpected sprinkle of coy, Janet Jackson-esque sweetness — a perfect smile covering up the rictus within.
From New York Times • Sep. 14, 2021
I disliked looking at her; you never knew what you were going to see, what rictus would shape her face.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
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.
