smarmy

[ smahr-mee ]

/ ˈsmɑr mi /

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adjective, smarm·i·er, smarm·i·est.

excessively or unctuously flattering, ingratiating, servile, etc.: the emcee with the smarmy welcome.

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Origin of smarmy

1905–10; smarm, variant of dial. smalm to smear, make slick (< ?) + -y¹

OTHER WORDS FROM smarmy

smarm·i·ly, adverb

Words nearby smarmy

smalto, smaragd, smaragdine, smaragdite, smarm, smarmy, smart, smart aleck, smartarse, smart as a whip, smart ass

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use smarmy in a sentence

Thomas Sadoski should be the frontrunner to play every smarmy privileged thirty-something from now on.
'The Newsroom' Ended As It Began: Weird, Controversial, and Noble|Kevin Fallon|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
King Smarmy Bill, Queen Smug Chilary, and Princess Spolied Chlesea [sic].
The Strange Leak of the New Exposé ‘Clinton, Inc.’|Lloyd Grove|July 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Brad is a smarmy, popular jerk, without whom Adam would have no credibility with the cool kids.
A New Huck on the Hardcore LGBT Hudson|William O’Connor|June 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
From suave Jack Ryan to smarmy Eugene Kittridge, potential candidates for America's next top spook.
10 Fictional Replacements for CIA Chief David Petraeus|Ben Teitelbaum, Laura Colarusso|November 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST

And anyway they just open themselves up to obvious charges of being dishonest and smarmy (at best).
Dems: Starting to Get It, But As Usual Not Quite Right|Michael Tomasky|July 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
They lipsynch the soundtrack, cadge souvenirs and pester you with smarmy, show-off questions.
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom|Cory Doctorow
If she thinks him too sweet and smarmy with other people, she should let him have it to his nose, straight out.
Fantasia of the Unconscious|D. H. Lawrence
We'd have four good meals every day and baths every morning, and we'd only feel virtuous and 'smarmy' and do-good-to-the-poor-y.
Changing Winds|St. John G. Ervine

British Dictionary definitions for smarmy

smarmy

/ (ˈsmɑːmɪ) /

adjective smarmier or smarmiest

British informal obsequiously flattering or unpleasantly suave

Derived forms of smarmy

smarmily, adverbsmarminess, noun

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

smarmy

Origin of smarmy

OTHER WORDS FROM smarmy

Words nearby smarmy

Words related to smarmy

How to use smarmy in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for smarmy

Derived forms of smarmy