smirk
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
noun
verb
-
(intr) to give such a smile
-
(tr) to express with such a smile
Usage
What does smirk mean? A smirk is a kind of smile, but it’s not a friendly smile—it’s often a sarcastic or arrogant one or one that’s intended to provoke or irritate the person who sees it.Smirk is also a verb that means to smile in such a way. People often smirk to show contempt for someone or something—such as by smirking at a person who’s angry at them.Sometimes, though, the word simply refers to a kind of slight smile or a smile that looks like a smirk usually does—a baby might smirk, for example, obviously without meaning anything by it.Example: Wipe that smirk off your face and take this seriously!
Other Word Forms
- smirker noun
- smirking adjective
- smirkingly adverb
- unsmirking adjective
- unsmirkingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of smirk
First recorded before 900; Middle English smirken (verb), Old English sme(a)rcian
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.
Moments later when the score flashed across the screen, Liu simply cracked a subtle smirk.
From Los Angeles Times
Mr. Powell, smirking and smug, tells his life story to a visiting priest who drops by his cell for a last conversation.
Still, I guffawed when Becket popped back into his present-day cell to poke fun at his audience, the Catholic priest: “The last thing the Church wanted was an investigation,” he says with a smirk.
From Los Angeles Times
He was sick of sitting here listening to Mr. Reardon bully his family with all these “hypotheticals,” all these simpers and smirks, cruel smiles and humorless laughs.
From Literature
But it was also a target that raised eyebrows and smirks, and perhaps with four years to go, may still be a touch too ambitious - but the trajectory of progression is undeniable.
From BBC
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.
