as in to grimace
to smile in an unpleasant way because you are pleased with yourself, glad about someone else's trouble, etc.
She tried not to smirk when they announced the winner.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of smirk
Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 13 Mar. 2025
Xavi smirks and sings back to them, creating an even bigger commotion.
—Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2025
Colin Dwyer, NPR, 1 Apr. 2025
Hartford Courant Bueckers took and hit the 3-pointer with a shrug and a smirk.
—Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 25 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for smirk
Verb
Deep inside the tunnel, awaiting a sprint onto court, Mark Williams smirks while making an inside joke to a staffer before ribbing an assistant coach for stepping over a barrier without tripping.
—Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 13 Mar. 2025
Xavi smirks and sings back to them, creating an even bigger commotion.
—Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2025
Noun
Here are six real books coming out this week, with dust jackets that reflect their real contents: mysteries and mishaps, often told with a sly smirk.
—Colin Dwyer, NPR, 1 Apr. 2025
Hartford Courant Bueckers took and hit the 3-pointer with a shrug and a smirk.
—Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 25 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for smirk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smirk
Noun
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But the moralistic sneer didn’t take long to enter the postgame analysis.—
Zak Garner-Purkis,
Forbes,
23 Mar. 2025
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The male characters are, typically, petulant narcissists with perpetual sneers who insult and cajole their female love interests into almost invariably unhealthy relationships.—
Josh Bell,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2025
Verb
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But Oskar continued to be mesmerized, staring at the rotating blades.—
Don Norcross,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Apr. 2025
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Perhaps the Staring Girl is just that, a staring girl.—
Nick Romano,
EW.com,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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League sources stifle their snickers in public while privately marveling at the owner’s ceaseless stupidity. 3.—
Jeff Howe,
The Athletic,
24 Jan. 2025
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So he must be placed in the Apparition section, next to ghosts like John Barron, sharing a snicker with Ivana.—
Greg Marotta,
New York Daily News,
12 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Those who scowled at such modest steps in programming are presumably hailing the Trump regime’s ugly crusade against D.E.I., which has broadened into an assault on decades of civil-rights progress.—
Alex Ross,
The New Yorker,
24 Feb. 2025
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For Halloween, Rick showed up wearing the same shirt Blake always wore, scowled and walked around with a Monster drink all night long.—
Michael Barnes,
Austin American-Statesman,
19 July 2024
Noun
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The tribal leader sniggers; a trade with foreign infidels is inconceivable.—
Bing West,
Foreign Affairs,
1 Sep. 2011
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This offbeat comedy, which originally ran from 2007-10, thrives on less explicit social tensions: sniggers behind the back and raised eyebrows at the dinner table.—
The Economist,
The Economist,
26 Dec. 2019
Verb
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Bolsonaro, who had sat apart from the other candidates, frowned furiously.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
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There were even rumors that sneezing in McMahon's presence was frowned upon, as it was perceived as a sign of weakness.—
John W. Dean,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Smirk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smirk. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.
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