smarmy
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of smarmy
1905–10; smarm, variant of dial. smalm to smear, make slick (< ?) + -y 1
Explanation
Smarmy describes someone who is overly flattering and fake. A smarmy student might tell a teacher, "You're looking even more lovely than usual today," with a big smile. Smarmy describes someone who goes way over the top trying to be suave and charming — fooling no one. A smarmy car salesman will compliment your outfit and your hair and your taste in cars, always with an unpleasant falseness. In the 1930s, smarm was a verb that described smearing the hair with pomade, which makes it look shiny and slick. Back then, smarm also meant smearing with flattery.
Vocabulary lists containing smarmy
Clean Getaway
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Roller Girl" by Victoria Jamieson
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
American comedy icon Carol Burnett shared a clip of Curry's turn as her smarmy brother in Annie, posting on social media that "nobody could play lovable villains better than he could".
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Though Dylan Baker is amusingly smarmy as an executive, “Saturday Night Live” star Sarah Sherman gets stuck waving around a squash racket in the very broadly written role of Kris’s agent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
And if a physician advertises on a billboard, you can bet they are no better than the smarmy personal-injury lawyer on the next sign who makes a living chasing ambulances.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
For six seasons on “Better Call Saul,” AMC’s hit prequel spinoff to “Breaking Bad” that told the backstory of Walter White’s smarmy lawyer Saul Goodman a.k.a.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2025
I'd shaken him, and it took him a second to find that smarmy smile, but he found it.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
It was a smarmier version of fellow candidate Katie Porter’s infamous interview with CBS last fall in which she, too, tried to police the reporter’s questioning.
From Slate ● May 16, 2026
But now he is old and outdated, while younger, smarmier, more high-tech rivals threaten to leave him choking in bygone glory turned to dust.
From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2025
On her phone she keeps a picture of her mentor, romance novelist Brighton Walsh, dealing a thumb’s down to some of the smarmier words for certain body parts.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 19, 2019
The show, at a club in the Castro called Martuni’s, was a high-spirited antidote to some of the smarmier aspects of the season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 25, 2018
To borrow the show’s oft-repeated example of the industry’s smarmiest idealism, shouldn’t women also have an opportunity to make the world a better place?
From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2019
He leans back in his chair, gives me the smarmiest grin a humanoid face can give, and says, “So? Do you still have that dime?”
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 16, 2017
Is Lockhart the smarmiest bloke you’ve ever met, or what?”
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
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.
