smirk
pronunciation
How to pronounce smirk in British English:
UK [smɜ:k]
How to pronounce smirk in American English:
US [smɜrk]
-
- Noun:
- a smile expressing smugness or scorn instead of pleasure
-
- Verb:
- smile affectedly or derisively
Word Origin
- 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.
- smirk (n.)
- 1550s, from smirk (v.).
Example
- 1. We can thus watch the wedding of prince william and kate middleton with a bit of a smirk .
- 2. Rukhsana 's husband yasir , a smirk playing around his lips and a vacant look in his eyes , denies everything .
- 3. A drunk guy who was standing nearby overheard us and yelled with a smirk : " I 'm a marine . I probably killed your cousin ! "
- 4. It might have been something very subtle that made you see red : a smirk , rolled eyes , a certain body posture , or tone of voice .
- 5. After two presidential debates in which the candidates crammed endless facts and rehearsed to hone their arguments , what everyone remembers and is talking about afterwards is the body language of the candidates -- obama 's grimace , biden 's smirk , ryan 's composure under fire .