How to Use smarm in a Sentence

smarm

noun
  • But if Scalia’s defining trait was snark, Gorsuch’s might be smarm.
    Simon Van Zuylen-Wood, Daily Intelligencer, 28 May 2018
  • What a great example of why college hoops has withstood all the smarm that surrounds it.
    Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 10 Jan. 2018
  • When the high-kicking, always-leering Roth left, the band’s smarm factor decreased 10-fold.
    The Enquirer, 7 Oct. 2020
  • It’s that rare yacht-rock album that’s graceful, earnest, and utterly lacking in smarm.
    David Browne, Rolling Stone, 22 June 2021
  • But this week, the theater will offer a fuller sampling of Mr. Bates’s charm and smarm with a career-spanning retrospective.
    Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2018
  • Played with all the smarm of a used car salesman by Murray Hamilton, Vaughn is among the first creatures to emerge out of the cynicism engendered by Watergate.
    Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 20 Mar. 2020
  • But Steve Bannon, in his 60 Minutes interview, has outdone them all for sheer outlandish smarm.
    Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, 11 Sep. 2017
  • The building's smarm factor was reduced by a substantial degree.
    Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 19 Apr. 2017
  • Maybe it’s the exhausting smarm, the squirrelly ambition, the hollow theatrics.
    Washington Post, 18 Feb. 2021
  • And if Black isn’t available for this brief, dismissive cameo, call up Brett Gelman, whose facial hair and smarm are practically unparalleled.
    Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 16 Sep. 2022
  • Ian is eventually released from jail and Corporal MacGregor smarms and makes threats while eyeballing young Fergus.
    Roxane Gay, Glamour, 17 Sep. 2017
  • While Peter appeared the perfect specimen, both fans and Rachel’s family questioned whether Bryan’s abundance of charm was actually smarm.
    Michelle Ruiz, Vogue, 8 Aug. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'smarm.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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