smile

/ˈsmaɪl/
verb 5noun 3

Collocations

59
1

(noun.)

ADJ

bright, broad, wide | faint, thin, wan, weak

beatific, cheerful, dazzling, happy, radiant, sunny, warm

The teacher gave her students a warm smile when they finished their project.

charming, gentle, sweet, winning

arch, disarming, enigmatic, mocking, rueful, sardonic, wry

He looked at the broken vase with a rueful smile and admitted he had knocked it over.

sad | shy | apologetic, sheepish | encouraging, indulgent, reassuring | polite | beguiling | ready | fixed, forced | supercilious | conspiratorial, knowing

grim

When she heard the bad news, she managed only a grim smile before leaving the room.

humourless, mirthless

The politician gave a humourless smile when asked about the scandal.

crooked, lopsided | toothless

QUANT

glimmer, hint, trace

There was just a hint of a smile on his face when he heard the good news.

VERB + SMILE

have, wear

When he walked into the room, he wore a big smile that made everyone feel welcome.

flash (sb), give sb, smile

The salesman gave me a friendly smile when I walked into the shop.

manage

Despite feeling nervous before the interview, he managed a confident smile.

return

When he waved at her across the room, she returned his smile warmly.

hide, repress, suppress

She tried to suppress her smile when he told the terrible joke.

forced

Even though he was upset about losing the game, he managed to force a smile for the camera.

bring

The children's laughter brought smiles to everyone in the room.

crease into

When she heard the good news, her face creased into a wide smile.

SMILE + VERB

fade, freeze, vanish

When he realized his mistake, his confident smile froze on his face.

cross sth, flicker across sth, play across sth

A warm smile crossed his face when he saw his old friend at the airport.

tug at the corner of the mouth

A slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she read the funny message.

grow, spread (across/over sth)

As she listened to the good news, a wide smile spread across her face.

PREP

with a ~

The teacher greeted the nervous student with a smile to help her feel more comfortable.

~ of

The teacher's smile of encouragement gave the nervous student confidence to try again.

PHRASES

be all smiles

After hearing the good news about the job, he was all smiles for the rest of the day.

be wreathed in smiles

After winning the competition, she was wreathed in smiles for the rest of the day.

wipe the smile off sb's face

The coach's harsh criticism quickly wiped the smile off the player's face.

2

(verb.)

ADV

broadly, widely

The teacher smiled broadly when she saw all her students had passed the exam.

faintly, slightly, thinly, wanly, weakly

She glanced at the broken vase and smiled faintly, trying not to upset her mother.

dazzlingly, happily, radiantly, warmly

My grandmother smiled warmly as she opened the door to welcome us home.

charmingly, gently, sweetly, winningly | benignly, kindly, politely | shyly

encouragingly, indulgently, reassuringly

Her mother smiled encouragingly as she stepped onto the stage for her first performance.

apologetically, sheepishly

ruefully, wryly

He smiled ruefully when he realized he had forgotten his keys at home.

archly, enigmatically | conspiratorially | sadly | grimly | humourlessly, mirthlessly | crookedly, lopsidedly

back

When I waved at my friend across the street, she smiled back warmly.

VERB + SMILE

try to | manage to

make sb

His funny jokes always make the children smile during the long car ride.

PREP

at

The baby smiled at her grandmother when she walked into the room.

with

The children smiled with excitement as they opened their birthday presents.

PHRASES

smile from ear to ear, smile to yourself

He grinned from ear to ear when he found out he had passed the difficult exam.

Your note

not saved
0 chars