rictus
Americannoun
-
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
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.
Up front, a fierce rictus of sterling-bright, illuminated vertical bars is capped with a chrome plate embossed with the word “Maybach.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
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 then paused five long seconds, her face a rictus of wonderment and concern, allowing the observation and admission — from a sitting member of the United States Senate, no less — to sink in.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 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
Penny’s mouth was frozen in a rictus of a smile.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
