smirk
[smurk]
- to smile in an affected, smug, or offensively familiar way.
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- the facial expression of a person who smirks.
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Origin of smirk
before 900; Middle English smirken (v.), Old English sme(a)rcian
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for smirking
Contemporary Examples
A smirking Ramone is shown wearing both a CBGB shirt and heavy gold chains, posing next to an enormous boombox.
‘All Good Cretins Go to Heaven’: Dee Dee Ramone’s Twisted Punk PaintingsMelissa Leon
December 15, 2014
Yet, after months of backdoor negotiations there was Xi, stone-facedly shaking hands with a smirking Abe.
He told me to enter while smirking, knowing full well my intentions.
Cocaine, Politicians and Wives: Inside the World’s Most Bizarre PrisonJason Batansky
October 12, 2014
No character this year is more volatile and unpredictable; you never know what the hunched-over, smirking Quell will do next.
The Daily Beast’s Oscar Nominees: Leonardo DiCaprio, Anne Hathaway & MoreMarlow Stern
January 4, 2013
Maria is the first “political criminal” in the family, she says, smirking between puffs of her cigarette.
Historical Examples
Stevens defended—bad, bad, bad, smirking all the while with small faceti.
The ManxmanHall Caine
What does that little man mean by smirking in that fashion,—who is he?
Davenport Dunn, Volume 1 (of 2)Charles James Lever
He had one arm round her neck, and she was holding his other hand and smirking.
Sketches in Lavender, Blue and GreenJerome K. Jerome
Tarling put the girl from him and looked at the smirking manager.
The Daffodil MysteryEdgar Wallace
Then, smirking at his friends, he made his way towards the door.
The Island PhariseesJohn Galsworthy
smirk
- a smile expressing scorn, smugness, etc, rather than pleasure
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- (intr) to give such a smile
- (tr) to express with such a smile
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Word Origin
Old English smearcian; related to smer derision, Old High German bismer contempt, bismerōn to scorn
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for smirking
smirk
v.
Old English smearcian "to smile." No exact cognates in other languages, but probably related to smerian "to laugh at, scorn," from Proto-Germanic *smer-, *smar-, variant of PIE *smei- "to smile;" see smile (v.), which after c.1500 gradually restricted smirk to the unpleasant sense "smile affectedly; grin in a malicious or smug way." In some 18c. glossaries smirk is still simply "to smile." Related: Smirked; smirking. The noun is recorded by 1560s.
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smirk
n.
1550s, from smirk (v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper