smarmy

[smahr-mee]

See more synonyms for smarmy on Thesaurus.com

adjective, smarm·i·er, smarm·i·est.

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

Origin of smarmy

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

Related formssmarm·i·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for smarmy

smug, buttery, fulsome, insincere, oily, oleaginous, sleek, smooth, suave

Examples from the Web for smarmy

Contemporary Examples of smarmy

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
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
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
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
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

Historical Examples of smarmy

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
They lipsynch the soundtrack, cadge souvenirs and pester you with smarmy, show-off questions.
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Cory Doctorow
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

adjective smarmier or smarmiest

British informal obsequiously flattering or unpleasantly suave

Derived Formssmarmily, 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

Word Origin and History for smarmy

adj.

"smooth and sleek" (1909); "ingratiating, unctuous," 1924, from smarm + -y (2). Related: Smarmily; smarminess.