- grin
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} nounADJECTIVE▪ big, broad, Cheshire (AmE), Cheshire-cat, huge, large, wide▪ faint, feeble, slight, small▪ friendly, sympathetic▪ happy▪ infectious▪ lazy▪ cheesy, foolish, goofy, silly, stupid▪ boyish, cheeky (BrE), devilish, devious, impish, mischievous, playful, sly, teasing▪
Edmund looked up with an impish grin.
▪ mocking, teasing▪ cocky, smug▪ satisfied▪ sheepish, shy▪ rueful, sardonic, wry▪ knowing▪ insane, manic▪ amused▪ evil, feral (esp. AmE), hideous, malicious, sinister, wicked, wolfish▪ crooked, lopsided▪ gap-toothed, toothless, toothyVERB + GRIN▪ have▪He had a cheeky grin.
▪I wondered why Dad had a grin on his face.
▪ crack, flash (sb), give (sb), let out (AmE)▪He gave the photographer a big grin.
▪ grin, smile▪He grinned his adorable grin.
▪ force, manage▪He forced a grin despite feeling angry.
▪ break into, curl into (AmE), form, split into▪The old man's face broke into a grin.
▪Her lips started to form a slight grin.
▪ fight, fight back, hide, hold back, stifle, suppress▪She tried to stifle a grin.
▪ wear▪ returnGRIN + VERB▪ broaden, grow, grow broader, grow wider, widen▪ appear, break out (across sb's face), come across sb's face, come over sb's face, creep across sb's face, creep onto sb's face, cross sb's face, form on sb's face, spread across sb's face, spread over sb's face▪A mischievous grin spread across the little girl's face.
▪ be plastered across sb's face, be plastered on sb's face, light sb's face, light up sb's face, play on sb's face, split sb's face, tug at sb's lips▪a grin tugging at the corners of his lips
▪ disappear, fade▪His wry grin faded.
▪ turn into sth▪Her grin turned into a frown.
PREPOSITION▪ with a grin▪‘Fooled you!’ he said, with a cheeky grin.
▪ grin at▪a grin at his wife
▪ grin of▪a grin of triumph
PHRASES▪ take the grin off your face, wipe the grin off your face▪Take that grin off your face!
▪ wipe the grin off sb's face▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}I'll soon wipe that silly grin off her face.
verbADVERB▪ broadly, widely▪He appeared in the doorway grinning broadly.
▪ slightly, weakly▪ crookedly▪ brightly, cheerfully, happily▪ amiably▪ boyishly, cheekily (BrE), devilishly, impishly, mischievously, playfully▪ madly, wildly▪ triumphantly▪ proudly▪ inanely, stupidly▪ nervously, sheepishly▪He just stood there, tongue-tied and grinning sheepishly.
▪ apologetically, ruefully, wryly▪She grinned apologetically when she saw him.
▪ evilly, maliciously, slyly, wolfishly▪ knowingly▪ smugly▪ back, down at, up at▪She relaxed and grinned wickedly back at him.
▪He lay grinning impishly up at me.
PREPOSITION▪ at▪He stopped eating to grin at me.
▪ like▪He just stood there, grinning like an idiot.
▪ to▪She grinned to herself at the thought.
▪ with▪They grinned with pleasure.
PHRASES▪ grin ear to ear (AmE), grin from ear to ear▪She looked at us, grinning from ear to ear.
Grin is used with these nouns as the object: ↑grin
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
