smarmy
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- smarmily adverb
- smarminess noun
Etymology
Origin of smarmy
1905–10; smarm, variant of dial. smalm to smear, make slick (< ?) + -y 1
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.
Williams wants to impress upon folks that he is an iconoclast, and it comes off as smarmy.
From Salon • Jan. 10, 2025
It starred Coleman as “Buffalo Bill” Bittinger, the smarmy, arrogant, dimwitted daytime talk show host who, unhappy at being relegated to the small-time market of Buffalo, New York, takes it out on everyone around him.
From Seattle Times • May 17, 2024
Bloom — and the script by Jason Hall, Zach Baylin and Alex Tse — positions Danny as savvy but smarmy: an outside-the-box innovator with visions of “untapped demographics” dancing in his head.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 23, 2023
So why do I call this calming music “avant-garde jazz” and not the smarmy candy known as “smooth jazz”? Simply: smooth jazz is a category.
From New York Times • Jul. 5, 2023
The smarmy guy was oilier than a soggy sack of fries.
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
