- smile
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} nounADJECTIVE▪ big, bright, broad, huge, wide▪
She had a big smile on her face.
▪ faint, slight, thin, wan, weak▪ beaming, beatific, cheerful, dazzling, happy, radiant, sunny, warm▪the warm smile in his eyes
▪ beautiful, charming, cute (esp. AmE), engaging, friendly, gentle, sweet, winning▪She has a beautiful smile.
▪ infectious▪He had an infectious smile that touched the lives of many people.
▪ disarming, enigmatic, mischievous, mocking, rueful, sardonic, sly, wry▪She gave a wry smile.
▪ sad▪ shy▪ apologetic, sheepish▪ encouraging, indulgent, reassuring▪ polite▪ beguiling▪ easy, ready▪She had a keen wit and a ready smile.
▪ fake, fixed, forced▪ conspiratorial, knowing▪ grim▪a grim smile of satisfaction
▪ humourless/humorless, mirthless▪She suppressed a mirthless smile.
▪ goofy (informal, esp. AmE)▪He had a goofy smile plastered across his face.
▪ crooked, lopsided▪ toothy▪ toothless… OF A SMILE▪ glimmer, hint, trace▪A trace of a smile played across her lips.
VERB + SMILE▪ have, wear▪She had a happy smile on her face.
▪ crack, flash (sb), give sb, smile▪I don't think he ever cracked a smile.
▪He flashed her a disarming smile.
▪She smiled a smile of dry amusement.
▪ manage▪She managed a weak smile.
▪ return▪She returned his smile.
▪ hide, suppress▪They had to hide their smiles.
▪ force▪Her father forced a smile.
▪ raise (esp. BrE)▪Mention of this subject is guaranteed to raise a smile.
SMILE + VERB▪ fade, freeze, vanish▪Her sunny smile vanished as she read the letter.
▪ falter▪His smile faltered slightly.
▪ come across sth, come over sth, come to sth▪A smile came to her lips.
▪ creep across sth, creep onto sth, creep over sth▪A wry smile crept over his face.
▪ cross sth▪ flicker across sth, flicker on sth, flicker over sth▪A faint smile flickered across her face.
▪ light sth up▪She got up immediately, a smile lighting up her face.
▪ play about sth (esp. BrE), play across sth, play on sth▪A small smile played on his lips.
▪ form▪ grow, spread, spread across sth, spread over sth, widen▪Her smile grew radiant.
▪A gentle smile spread over her face.
PREPOSITION▪ with a smile▪‘Oh, hello!’ he said, with a smile.
▪ smile of▪a smile of approval
PHRASES▪ have a smile on your face▪She always has a smile on her face.
▪ bring a smile to sb's face, put a smile on sb's face▪It is a beautiful song that puts a smile on your face.
▪ keep the smile off your face▪He could hardly keep the smile off his face.
▪ wipe the smile off sb's face▪I'm going to wipe that smile off your face (= make you stop thinking this is funny).
▪ be all smiles▪Twelve hours later she was all smiles again.
▪ be wreathed in smiles▪His face was wreathed in smiles.
▪ (have) a smile plastered across/on your face▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}The little boy had a smile plastered across his face.
verbADVERB▪ broadly, widely▪She put down her tools and smiled broadly.
▪ faintly, slightly, thinly, wanly, weakly▪He looked at the mess and smiled weakly.
▪ brightly, dazzlingly, happily, radiantly, warmly▪Lawrence nodded, smiling happily.
▪ charmingly, gently, softly, sweetly, winningly▪ innocently▪ benignly, kindly, politely▪ merely, simply▪I simply smiled at him and said ‘hi!’
▪ shyly▪ encouragingly, indulgently, reassuringly▪The doctor smiled reassuringly.
▪ apologetically, sheepishly▪ ruefully, wryly▪Molly smiled rather wryly and said nothing.
▪ archly, enigmatically▪ conspiratorially▪ mischievously, slyly▪ sadly▪ grimly▪ humourlessly/humorlessly, mirthlessly▪ smugly, triumphantly▪ crookedly, lopsidedly▪ back▪He winked at her, and she smiled back.
▪ always▪Gary is always smiling—he's so positive.
VERB + SMILE▪ try to▪ manage to▪ make sb▪The memory still made her smile.
PREPOSITION▪ at▪He turned and smiled at me.
▪ with▪She smiled with pleasure.
PHRASES▪ smile down at sb, smile up at sb▪She smiled up at him.
▪ smile from ear to ear▪ smile to yourself▪She smiled to herself, picturing how surprised her mother would be to see her.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
