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smirking

  • present participle
    of smirk.
    smirk
    verb (used without object)
    to smile in an affected, smug, or offensively familiar way.
  • a word derived from smirk.
    smirk
    verb (used without object)
    to smile in an affected, smug, or offensively familiar way.

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.

See Examples For:

"We all saw how he disrespected the courtroom, smirking and laughing amongst his lawyers during witness testimonies. That did not help his case at all," said law professor Lim Ji-bong.

From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2026

Now that I have done so, I picture Harper smirking at me, suddenly bored by how easy adults are to manipulate and already thinking of some new mischief to get up to.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 2026

Members of Gen Alpha, it added, might be "smirking at the thought of adults once again struggling to make sense of your notoriously slippery slang."

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2025

During this whole interaction, Nate is just smirking and laughing along cause yeah, at this point Andy thinks it’s pretty silly too.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025

I knew he’d look away, and he did, smirking.

From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely