Smile Meaning

/ˈsmaɪl/
A1

Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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nounA 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.

nounFavour; propitious regard.

"Good morning", said Tom with a smile.
Face life with a smile!
She cast a welcoming smile in his direction.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Because she heard a funny joke, her face began to ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A warm ____ spread across her face when she saw her old friend waiting at the airport.

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”).

"Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady.[…]She looked around expectantly, and recognizing Mrs. Cooke's maid[…]Miss Thorn greeted her with a smile which greatly prepossessed us in her favor." — 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile; he could not tell what this prisoner might do." — 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"“[…] This is Mr. Churchill, who, as you are aware, is good enough to come to us for his diaconate, and, as we hope, for much longer; and being a gentleman of independent means, he declines to take any payment.” Saying this Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly." — 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"Once I was a young man / And all I thought I had to do was smile" — 1969, Mike d'Abo, “Handbags & Gladrags”, performed by Rod Stewart:
"If a man smiles all the time he's probably selling something that doesn't work." — 1997, George Carlin, Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 70:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
Because she heard a funny joke, her face began to ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A warm ____ spread across her face when she saw her old friend waiting at the airport.

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