smirk

[ smurk ]

/ smɜrk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR smirk ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to smile in an affected, smug, or offensively familiar way.

noun

the facial expression of a person who smirks.

Nearby words

Origin of smirk

before 900; Middle English smirken (v.), Old English sme(a)rcian

Related formssmirk·er, nounsmirk·ing·ly, adverbun·smirk·ing, adjectiveun·smirk·ing·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for smirking

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 Paintings|Melissa Leon|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Yet, after months of backdoor negotiations there was Xi, stone-facedly shaking hands with a smirking Abe.
Beijing’s ‘Star Trek’ APEC Summit|Jake Adelstein|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He told me to enter while smirking, knowing full well my intentions.
Cocaine, Politicians and Wives: Inside the World’s Most Bizarre Prison|Jason Batansky|October 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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 & More|Marlow Stern|January 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Maria is the first “political criminal” in the family, she says, smirking between puffs of her cigarette.
Russia’s Opposition Movement Starts to Crack|Anna Nemtsova|November 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Evidently he believed himself irresistible, and his smirking, posing, and ogling were ludicrous to the last degree.
Brave Tom|Edward S. Ellis
I name the hour and she is there to receive me—smirking, blind, deaf and dumb.
Secret Memoirs: The Story of Louise, Crown Princess|Henry W. Fischer
A smirking calm seemed to have come over him, as if he were at last sure of his possession.
The Song of Songs|Hermann Sudermann
There, bobbing her head and smirking mechanically, stood that loathsome creature, Old Meg.
The Master Mystery|Arthur B. Reeve and John W. Grey
A smirking smile took the place of the frown and he advanced with outstretched hand.
The Ranger Boys Outwit the Timber Thieves|Claude A. Labelle

British Dictionary definitions for smirking

smirk

/ (smɜːk) /

noun

a smile expressing scorn, smugness, etc, rather than pleasure

verb

(intr) to give such a smile

(tr) to express with such a smile

Derived Formssmirker, nounsmirking, adjectivesmirkingly, adverb

Word Origin for smirk

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for smirking

smirk

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.

smirk

1550s, from smirk (v.).

smirk

verb (used without object)

noun

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Origin of smirk

Examples from the Web for smirking

smirk

noun

verb

Word Origin for smirk

smirk

smirk