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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

smile.

A facial expression comprised by flexing the muscles of both ends of one's mouth, often showing the front teeth, without vocalisation, and in humans is a common involuntary or voluntary expression of happiness, pleasure, amusement, goodwill, or anxiety.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈsmaɪl//ˈsmaɪ.əl/
  1. A facial expression comprised by flexing the muscles of both ends of one's mouth, often showing the front teeth, without vocalisation, and in humans is a common involuntary or voluntary expression of happiness, pleasure, amusement, goodwill, or anxiety.

    She's got a perfect smile.
    He has a sinister smile.
  2. Favour; propitious regard.

    figuratively
    the smile of the gods
  3. A drink bought by one person for another.

    dated · slang
Where this word comes from

From Middle English smilen (“to smile”), from Middle Low German *smîlen (“to smile”), from Middle High German smielen, from Old High German smielēn, from Proto-West Germanic *smīlēn, from Proto-Germanic *smīlāną (“to smile”), from Proto-Indo-European *smey- (“to laugh, be glad, wonder”). Cognate with Danish smile, Swedish smila, Faroese smíla (“to smile”); also Saterland Frisian smielje (“to smile”), Low German smielen (“to smile”), Dutch smuilen (“to smile”), Middle High German smielen (“to smile”). Related also to Old High German smierōn (“to smile”), Old English smerian (“to laugh at”), Old English smercian, smearcian ("to smile"; > English smirk), Latin mīror (“to wonder at”).

verb/ˈsmaɪl//ˈsmaɪ.əl/
  1. To have (a smile) on one's face.

    ambitransitive
    When you smile, the whole world smiles with you.
    I don't know what he's smiling about.
  2. To express by smiling.

    transitive
    to smile consent, or a welcome
  3. To express amusement, pleasure, or love and kindness.

    intransitive
  4. To look cheerful and joyous; to have an appearance suited to excite joy.

    intransitive
    The sun smiled down from a clear summer sky.
  5. To be propitious or favourable; to countenance.

    intransitive
    The gods smiled on his labours.
  6. Of ackee fruit: to open fully, indicating that it is no longer toxic, and ready to be picked.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English smilen (“to smile”), from Middle Low German *smîlen (“to smile”), from Middle High German smielen, from Old High German smielēn, from Proto-West Germanic *smīlēn, from Proto-Germanic *smīlāną (“to smile”), from Proto-Indo-European *smey- (“to laugh, be glad, wonder”). Cognate with Danish smile, Swedish smila, Faroese smíla (“to smile”); also Saterland Frisian smielje (“to smile”), Low German smielen (“to smile”), Dutch smuilen (“to smile”), Middle High German smielen (“to smile”). Related also to Old High German smierōn (“to smile”), Old English smerian (“to laugh at”), Old English smercian, smearcian ("to smile"; > English smirk), Latin mīror (“to wonder at”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.