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.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Examples of smirk in a Sentence
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Recent Examples on the Web
Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2024
Video footage shows the emcee struggling to make a clean cut on the ribbon while smirking through his blunder with the dull scissors.
—Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 16 Sep. 2024
Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Sep. 2024
The rampant calls for truth from both sides, smirks, and the inability to hear one another were on full display for over the 67 million people who tuned in.
—Erik Logan, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for smirk 
Verb
Asked what had happened in that halftime locker room to spur such change, Riley smirked.
—Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2024
Video footage shows the emcee struggling to make a clean cut on the ribbon while smirking through his blunder with the dull scissors.
—Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 16 Sep. 2024
Noun
There’s a famous photograph/internet meme of a young girl giving a devilish smirk in the foreground as a house burns down behind her.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Sep. 2024
The rampant calls for truth from both sides, smirks, and the inability to hear one another were on full display for over the 67 million people who tuned in.
—Erik Logan, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for smirk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smirk
Noun
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Mazzoli piles unstable harmonies on top of that fractured foundation; trombone glissandos add a demonic sneer.Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
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The outdoor effigy has been eliciting snickers, sneers — and the ire of politicians, who have called it a stunt.Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 10 Oct. 2024
Verb
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The traditional media business has been staring at these multiple roads for years now, and none of them are anywhere near as bucolic as Frost’s woods.Howard Homonoff, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
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By then, after so many years staring at a sideways world, everything had started to appear off-kilter.Joseph Bien-Kahn, Rolling Stone, 3 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Could anyone utter these lofty words today without courting a chorus of snickers, a social-media immolation?George Packer, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024
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Sugar might have caught its share of snickers when its big plot twist was revealed, but Colin Farrell is a huge movie star who carried that show, and that should be enough to give him the edge.Joe Reid, Vulture, 13 July 2024
Verb
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The scowling image has been used by both opponents and supporters.Phil Helsel, NBC News, 30 Oct. 2024
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Bruce, now 69, appears to be holding the camera and scowling into the lens.Jack Smart, People.com, 17 Oct. 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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Hiring managers frown upon job seekers who rely on AI to do the work for them.Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 20 Oct. 2024
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Leaving the office at 4 p.m. might be frowned upon by some, but the culture of performative presenteeism that kept many in the office until the late evening pre-pandemic has waned somewhat in the hybrid-work era.Jane Thier, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near smirk
Cite this Entry
“Smirk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smirk. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
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