smile

SMYL/ˈsmaɪl/

Pluralsmiles

Verbsmiles, smiling, smiled

8 meanings of smile

Practice

1
facial expressionnouncountable
A silent facial expression made by flexing the muscles at both corners of the mouth, often showing the front teeth, commonly expressing happiness, pleasure, amusement, goodwill, or anxiety, whether voluntary or involuntary.
She greeted the visitors at the door with a warm smile.
His nervous smiles during the interview gave away how worried he was.
UsageOften with a smile; you have a smile on your face, and good news puts a smile on it.
Similargrin, beam
Oppositefrown, scowl
2
curve the lipsverbtransitive or intransitive
To turn up the corners of the mouth, usually in an expression of amusement, pleasure, affection, or kindness, sometimes in a smile of a particular kind.
He smiled at the memory of their first road trip.
Neighbors here smile and wave whenever they pass one another.
UsageYou smile at someone or something: she smiled at her grandmother.
3
seem sunnyverbintransitive
To look cheerful and joyous; to have a bright, pleasing appearance that brings joy to those who see it.
The valley smiled under the first warm sun of spring.
Whole hillsides seem to smile when the wildflowers open in May.
UsageOften smile down: the sun smiled down. Not the same as smile on, which means to favor.
Similarglow, shine, beam, sparkle
Note
Personification at work: the subject is not a person but the sun, a sky or a landscape, and the smile is the brightness it seems to offer.

Less common meanings

4
verbtransitive
To express (something, such as thanks, agreement, or encouragement) by smiling.
He smiled his agreement and signed the papers without a word.
Proud parents smile their encouragement from the back of the recital hall.
UsageThe object is the feeling shown: smile your thanks, smile a welcome, smile your agreement.
Note
The American novelist Winston Churchill's The Celebrity (1897) stretches it wryly. There Farrar "smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting," a grudging partial smile serving as the whole of a hello. Compare the ordinary verb, where what is smiled is simply a smile, as in smile a sad smile.
5
be lucky forverbintransitive
To be favorable or propitious toward someone or something; to give approval or support.
Fortune finally smiled on the young inventor.
May the weather smile on the harvest this year.
UsageUsually smile on (or upon) someone, with fortune, luck or the weather as the subject.
Similarfavor, bless
Oppositefrown
6
nounfigurativelycountable
Favor or kindly regard; the goodwill of a person or of fortune.
The young painter prospered under the smile of a wealthy patron.
Fortune's smiles deserted the expedition once winter set in.
UsageThe giver follows of: the smile of fortune, the smile of a patron.
Similarfavor, blessing, patronage, goodwill, approval
Oppositedisfavor, displeasure
Note
Favor pictured as a face turned kindly toward you, a figurative use built on the facial expression. Its verb partner is smiling on someone: the smile of the gods and the gods smiling on your labors are one image, told once as a thing and once as an act.
7
bought drinknoundatedcountable
A drink that one person buys or stands for another.
Similartreat
Note
Bar talk from an earlier day: to buy someone a smile was to stand them a drink, a slang near-synonym of treat. The sense is dated now, and most modern listeners will hear only the facial expression. Treat it as one to recognize in older writing rather than to use, unless the context makes the drink plain.
8
verb
Of ackee fruit: to split fully open on the tree when ripe, showing that the yellow arils are safe to pick and eat, though the seeds remain poisonous.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English smilen, from Middle Low German and Old High German words for "to smile," going back to Proto-Germanic *smīlāną and ultimately the Proto-Indo-European root *smey- ("to laugh, be glad, wonder"). It is related to Danish smile, Swedish smila, and to English smirk, as well as Latin mīror ("to wonder at").

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

English smile comes from Middle English smilen. en.wiktionary.org
Its ancestry includes Middle Low German and Old High German words meaning to smile. en.wiktionary.org
The word goes back to reconstructed Proto-Germanic *smīlāną. en.wiktionary.org
Its ultimate root is Proto-Indo-European *smey-, glossed as to laugh, be glad, wonder. en.wiktionary.org
Smile is related to Danish smile and Swedish smila. en.wiktionary.org
Smile is related to English smirk. en.wiktionary.org
Smile is related to Latin mīror, meaning to wonder at. en.wiktionary.org